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- 























, 
































































































Something to Do,—Girls! 



I 






TWO brothers once lived down this way; 

One called DO, and one called SAY* 

If streets were dirty, taxes high, 

Or schools too crowded, SAY would cry, 

44 Gee, what a town! ” but Brother DO 
Would set to work to make things new* 

And while DO worked, old SAY would cry 
44 He does it wrong! I know that I 
Could done it right! ” So all the day 
Was heard the clack of Brother SAY* 

But this one fact from none was hid, 

That while SAY Talked—DO always Did* 

—Frederic A. Whiting. 































































































































Something to Do,—Girls! 

A Book for Every Girl 


Edited by , 

EDNA A. 1 ' FOSTER 



W. A. WILDE COMPANY 

BOSTON AND CHICAGO 









The publishers wish to express their thanks to the 
following, who as authors and illustrators have co¬ 
operated in making the volume what it is: 


Henry Turner Bailey 
Ronald F. Davis 
William Byron Forbush 
Clara E. Atwood 
Wallace E. Hackett 
A. Oswald Shedd 
Edith Phelps 
Louise Clark 
Nathaniel L. Berry 
Frank G. Sanford 
Calvin B. Cady 


Floy Campbell 
Rachel Weston 
Julia Daniels 
Plorence Pretz Smalley 
H. Boylston Dummer 
Helen E. Cleaves 
George E. Johnson 
A. S. Bennett 
E. H. Chandler 
Madge Anderson 
Lawrence H. Bailey 


Copyrighted , /p/5, 

By W. A. Wilde Company 
All rights reserved 

Something to Do, —Girls! 



APR -7 1917 

® c 'A4003I8 






Foreword 

Have you ever seen a little girl sitting by her mother's sewing 
table and learning to take the first stitches ? How happy she looked 
because she was taking part in work to be done ! She was sharing 
with her mother. To such a child, mother’s work-basket with its 
neat little rolls of tape, its dainty cases for needles and its many 
colored spools of silk is just as interesting as a bit of fairyland,—be¬ 
cause from its depths beautiful things are made, or plain things be¬ 
come beautiful. 

Every child wonders at her mother’s skill and the ease with 
which she works. She has learned her skill by doing things right 
in the beginning and so whether you sew, paste, cut or weave, take 
each step with care. 

In the pages of this book there are many things to learn and 
many articles that you can make. Your finger fairies will do your 
bidding and they will help you to make beautiful gifts for those you 
love. 


J 




Contents 


PAGE 

Simple Things that a Girl 
Can Make : 

Make a Picture Book of Your 


Own.11 

One Way to Sew a Booklet . 11 

A Frock for Dolly . . .12 

How to Knit Reins . . 14 

A Cap for Dolly ... 15 

Bedtime Dollies for Baby . 16 

Directions for Making a 
Kitchen Apron ... 18 

A Tam o’ Shan ter . . .19 

A Dainty Bonnet ... 20 

A Towel for the Guest Room . 21 

Good Needle Practice . . 22 

A New Jumper for Your Best 

Doll.23 

A Teapot Holder ... 24 

A Needle Book ... 24 

A Bib for the Baby . 25 

A Post-card Holder . . 25 

A Pin Ball, The Needlebook, 
and a Pin Case ... 26 

A Santa Claus Bag . . 27 

Something for a Sick Friend . 28 

A Bean Bag .... 28 

Directions for a Cape . . 29 

Bags for Christmas ... 30 

A Spool Case .... 32 

Cross-Stitch Alphabets . . 34 

Cross-Stitch Letters . . 34 

Pressing Flowers ... 35 


PAGE 

A Muff and Collar for Sister’s 

Doll.36 

A School Bag .... 37 

Paper Mats to Piny Games 
With . . . ' . .39 

Useful and Pretty Woven 
Things .... 40 

Patterns for May Baskets . 41 

How to Make a Tumbler Cover 42 

A Winter Bouquet... 42 

Pictures to Copy . . 43-49 

Something to Draw (by Helen 
Cleaves) . . . 51-79 

Pictures from Advertise¬ 
ments .... 80-81 

A Book-Mark ... 82 

Making Animated Pictures 83-98 
A Glad Aster Badge . . 99 

Have Your Own Picture Gal¬ 
lery .101 

Pictures to Color . . 103-122 

Something to Write About 123-138 
Put on Your Thinking Cap 139-158 
Something to Search For 159-162 
Telling Stories . . 163-186 

Four Different Guessing Games 187 
Throwing Light . . . 188 

Acting Charades . . .188 

Easter Games . . . 189-190 

Games,—Indoors and Out 191-201 
Charades and How to Put 
Them On . . . 202-204 


9 





































10 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The Merry Fun of Going Mum¬ 
ming .... 205-206 

A Stage for Puppet Plays 208-209 
Tableaux for Thanksgiving 210-213 
Pyramus and Thisbe . . 214 

Piddles in Pictures . . 217 

Doll Tableaux that Every One 
Will Like . . . 219-222 

Motives in Music . . . 223 

Instrumental Music . . 224 

Battle Hymn of the Republic 226 
Feeding the Birds . . . 227 

March Chickens . . 228-229 

A Man Who Loved Animals . 230 

Goodies of Many Kinds . .231 

Frozen Peaches and Margue¬ 
rites . 232 


PAGE 

Helping Mother With Lunches 
for Sunday Night . 234-235 

Things Father Would Like for 
Breakfast .... 236 

The Way to Cook a Cereal . 237 

How to Make Milk Toast . 237 

Cake for Your May Basket . 238 

Goodies for an Orange Party 239-240 
Good Menus . . . 241-242 

Ice Cream for Your Party . 243 

Good Things for Christmas 244-246 
Taffy Apples .... 247 

School Lunches . . . 248 

At Thanksgiving Time . 249-251 

Easter Dishes. . . 253-254 

Tempting Things for Tea . 255 

How to Set a Table . . 256 



Something to Do, Girls 


Simple Things That a Girl Can Make 


Make a Picture Book of Your Own 

To make a booklet find seven sheets of paper six by twelve inches 
in size, fold them so that they make seven folios with pages six 
inches square ; sew them together at the back to make a little book 
like the one shown below. Now you can begin to make drawings 
for your book. 

First number the pages, lightly in pencil, at the upper corners. 
Page 1 is the cover. We will put a design on that last of all. So 
we will leave it blank now. Page 2 we will leave blank also. On 
page 3 we will have our first picture. Draw a four-inch square, 
one inch smaller all around than the page. Within this square copy 
the pictures that you will find in the following pages. 

One Way to Sew a Booklet 

Open as shown in the sketch. Punch three 
holes through the fold as indicated by the three 
dots,—one in the middle, one above, one below. 

Use a needle and strong thread as near the 
color of the paper as possible. Sew it as shown 
by the arrows. Notice how the threads cross 
inside the booklet. Pull a and b tight and tie 
a square knot (c) over the long stitch. 

11 









12 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


A Frock for Dolly 

Isn’t it about time that you made something for Dolly ? Let us 
take our work-baskets out on the veranda or under the trees and 
sew for her. Do you like the little frock she wears ? Choose some 
pretty cloth and follow the directions on the next page. Before you 
begin you must understand each step. 

i Wouldn’t she like a little sunbonnet to wear mornings? It will 
be very easy to make one out of gingham or of something white if 
you prefer. Measure your doll’s head from the top to one inch 
below her neck. Fold your cloth and cut a square the size of your 
measurement. You can make a little hem round the square and 
then fold once. Make little plaits at the neck and add strings of 
baby ribbon. 

Sometimes a hat can be made from a square piece of material by 
bending up two sides and sewing on a bow. 

And don’t you think it would make the dress prettier to have a 
little colored border round it? Suppose you see if you can find silk 
of three different colors—be sure they look well with each other, and 
with the cloth you used for the dress, and, instead of just sewing up 
the hems at the neck, sleeves, and bottom of the skirt, “ run ” them, 
with the colored thread in even stitches. You can make the “over 
and over ” stitches for the very outside if you wish ; or you can 
leave them off. But remember that the stitching will look really 
pretty only if it is very, very even. The stitches must be of the 
same length and the space between them the same length. The 
space between the rows must be the same all the way round, or the 
trimming will not be pretty. 

There is another way to make a simple dress or a little “ nightie.” 
Fold once a piece of cloth a little longer than your doll and twice as 
wide. 

Cut off diagonal pieces on either side and raise them to half of their 
length above the folded line. You will see that the pieces thus make 
a square-cut neck and kimono-shaped sleeves. Sew these pieces to the 
main part of the garment. Hem the sleeves and bottom and round 
the neck you can trim with a piece of lace, or you can sew on a strip 
of lace through which baby ribbon can be run. The ribbon can be 
drawn up so that the opening will just fit the neck of the doll. This 
ribbon can be tied in a pretty bow with long ends. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


13 


Ai Foldt of Cloth> 


r roloL of Cloth JB 


father two T 



THE "FROCK 


Cut a paper pattern. Measure 
your Dolly from one elbow to the 
other. This wilt be the widest 
part of your pattern.-A toE>. Mext 
measure from her neck to below her 
knees, for the distance from H to 0. 
Allow f of an inch for a hem. The 
distance from E to F unll be the 
same as from A to B. Trim out a 
small opening for the neck and 
shape under the arms. Be 
sure to haue the distance from B 
to G more than one half as large 
as Dolly a arm. Allow fully 
half an inch for the seams. 
Round off the bottom of the 
skirt so that it will hang well. 


Lay me pattern on the folded cloth. Hn il on carefully and cat. “Remove 
pattern and overcast and sew seams F to G and Z toK. Turn narrow 
hem on sleeves and % in. hem on bottom of frock. Cut slit from CtoS, for 
opening in back. If Dolly is narrower in back than in front, cut slit to the 
bottom of skirt. Make a narrow hem on either side. Have liny buttons and. 
button holes. If you cut CtoB fasten as in fig 21- Face neck with bias strip(N) : 
Gather twicer cover wrih. sash. Put lace a round n eck ifyou wish. 

~K z y~ 

Z inch, 
on the 
side 

edges to 
Turnback 
on wrong 
v side. 






Take a slnp 
one inch wide, 
fold it double. 

Lay it wrong side I 
up on left edge 
of slit. Sew ^ 

edges to-gether. fold strip 
over and nem down wrong side 
so that A is opposite 33. 


® Overcast\x 
the two edgesN> 
together 
BtoD. 



©Sew the 
two edges 
together 
with fine 
stitches 
just inside 
overcasting 




© _ 

Make a 
about ^in. 
all around bonnet. 
Place two little 
pleats at neck Lin 
from edge. fasten 

with 


Sew strings v ' 
1 inch from. y\ 
front and 
linch fnorns ) 
bottom.. A 



































14 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 
How to Knit Reins 

Do you like to have mother tell you of the things she used to 
make when she was a little girl? I am going to tell you of some¬ 
thing that we used to do when we were children and often had to 
find our own amusements. 

If you can’t buy a knitting machine for a nickel at your store, 
you can easily make one by using a large, empty spool. Be sure to 
choose one with a large hole through it or your knitting will not 
pull through well. When you have found your spool, ask father 
for four staples, or tacks. Drive them securely into one end of the 
spool, the same distance apart, just as they are in Fig. 1. Then take 
a piece of wire about six inches long, or a hair pin and bend it to 
look like Fig. 2. This is for our needle. Now find some twine or 
worsted. Twine is stronger but worsted is prettier. Choose what¬ 
ever color you like. Red would be pretty. Wind the worsted into 
a ball. Next wind the end once around each of the four staples and 
draw it down through the hole in the spool. Now carry the worsted 
along to the left, in front of the first staple, and hold it against the 
side of the spool with your thumb. You must not draw the worsted 
too tight; keep it free on the pins or you cannot carry it over easily 
to make your stitch. If you keep it even your reins will be of the 
same size throughout. 

With the needle in your right hand (Fig. 6) draw the lower 
stitch of worsted along to the left by the next staple and do the 
same thing in front of the upper stitch and up, over the staple 
(Fig. 3). Carry over again, and so on around and around the spool. 
Hold the spool and the worsted in the left hand (Fig. 5). In a few 
minutes look down into the spool and what do you see? Doesn’t it 
look like a spider’s web? It is a pretty style of weaving and you 
will be surprised to see how fast your reins will grow as you weave. 

Occasionally as you work, gently pull the end of worsted which 
comes out at the bottom of the spool. Make it about three yards 
long. Now take it from the spool and with a large-eyed needle sew 
through the loops and fasten the ends together very securely. Sew 
four or five little bells on if you have them. Then find a horse, 
harness him and send him galloping away I 

Your first pair of reins may take you some time but the next 
work will go more quickly. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


15 



A Cap for Dolly 

If you would rather make a cap for your dolly, knit a long piece 
as you did for the reins and then sew together on the wrong side 
while winding it in the shape of a coil. It will look prettier if you 
sew a little tassel on it. Look at Fig. 4 and see if you cannot make 
it easily. 

The tassel can be made by leaving a little end of the coil to hang 
down, and by fringing out the worsted ends a little. 

In our grandmother’s day they used to make table mats from 
these coils of woven strands. 









16 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Bedtime Dollies for Baby 

Peter and Polly, the little twins in Fig. 3, are looking for a 
home. They would like to belong to some dear little baby and 
cuddle down beside her when she goes to bed. They are so soft 
that they do not care how tightly baby squeezes them and they 
even keep quiet if they are dropped on the floor. Polly says, 
“ Wouldn’t you like to know how I was made? 

“ I will tell you and then you can make a dolly like me and 
name her yourself. Of course you know a baby to give your dolly 
to, after you get it made. 

“ You must have a skein of Germantown worsted,—either pink 
or blue is prettiest. You will need a bone crochet hook, No. 4, a 
small piece of twine, and a piece of stout cardboard about eight 
inches long. 

“ Wind the worsted into a ball. Then carefully wind a large 
part of it over the cardboard as in Fig. 1. Do this very evenly. 
Take a piece of twine and put under the yarn at the top, as at A, 
and tie a hard knot. Cut through the worsted at the lower edge, 
B to C, and the card will fall out. Then tie a piece of twine about 
two inches from the top for the neck. Separate some for arms, as at 
D. D. in Fig. 2. Cut off to right length, and tie at wrist. Tie also 
at waist-line. 

“ Thread a large-eyed needle with black darning cotton and sew 
in the eyes, nose and mouth. 

“ For the cap : 

“ Look carefully at Figs. 4 and 5. After you have made the 
knot, put through your crochet hook as at Fig. 4 and make a chain 
of five stitches as at Fig. 5. Join these in a circle by drawing the 
last loop through the first one made. 

“ Then put two stitches in every stitch already made for two 
rows around. On the third row put two in one stitch, then one in 
next, two in next, and so on. When the cap is large enough to fit 
on the doll’s head, fasten the worsted. Crochet a chain about eight 
inches long, fasten to top of the cap very securely, for Baby to take 
hold of. 

“ With a long worsted needle threaded with worsted, sew the cap 
on the dolly. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


17 



TWINS THAT NEVER CRY 


“ See if you can’t work Peter out yourself. He is not a very 
difficult chap to make.” 

If you do not care to make the little cap, you may tie a little 
ribbon bow on Polly's hair. Or you can sew in strands of the 
worsted to make hair and fringe it out to make it fluffy. 

I have seen these dolls made from white cotton skeins, but they 
make twins that soil too easily. 

A little doll of white cotton can be fastened to a wooden handle 
for a lamp chimney cleaner. 
















18 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Directions for Making a Kitchen Apron 


(lj Turn up the end |-m. and 
crease it. Then turn it up 
4in. and crease it. 


The spots Indicate 
the right side 
of the^oocLs. 



©v\4 wrong' 
side ofgoods 

_towards 

'you, left edge 
of apron at the 
top. sew with 
\^the hemming 
stitch 



(?) Make the gathered 
top 18 m. wide, and fasten the thread. Make the 
gathers as even as possible. 


^Next 
gather the top. 
Knot the thread 
(A). Put the needle 
thru several times, 
ein.apart, before 
drawing thru the 
thread. 




t~E>ack stitching 





V§) Sew the 0 # 0 r ~?__ 

atrip to the apron 9 6 t 3 a i 

using the back 
stitch, thus:-^ 

In at I, out at 2; in at 1 again, out at 3; in at 
2. out at 4; in at 3, out at 5; etc. 

Sew together the two 
folded edges of the string, 

B and A.in 7, extending be- / 
yond the apron, using ' 
the over-and-over stitch. 
Begin with the knot-end 
at C. Draw the edges 
together tightly. 


(5) Lay the strip for 
the apron string .wrong 
side up on the' right side 
of the apron, centers of 
top edges together. 






r 


(}?) Spread, open —■ 
one end of’ the apron string 
enough to let the end be turned 
in a quarter inch. Press the 
edges together, and sew them 
over- and -over. Finish the other .end the same way. 


© 

a Ibid over the 
strip thus to form the 
apron string # a 

^ Turn the apron over. Sew edge 
B exactly opposite edge A, i.e., 
“Fell it down’’ using the 
hemming stitch. 2. 

®^5eur over, and-over 
the two selvage edges 
at each end or the° 
wide hem at the 
bottom, and the 
apron is done. 


^Present it to her with a kiss. 















































SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


19 


A Tam o’Shanter 

Decide how large to make the cap. Six inches is a good size for 
a doll a foot tall. Take a piece of cardboard 7 or 8 inches square. 
Find a saucer which measures about 6 inches across and mark around 
it to make the circle. Make dots on this line about half an inch 
apart. There must be an odd number . You may have to crowd the 
last few a little. Prick the holes with a hat pin. Then draw a line 
from any dot across through the center of the circle, so that half the 
dots are on each side of it. In Fig. 1 there are 39 dots, and the line 
is drawn so that there are 19 above the line and 19 below. The 
loom is now ready to string up. 

Take a long piece of yarn, thread it into the darning needle, 
and tie a knot at the other end. 

Now look at Fig. 1 again. Draw 
the yarn up through A, down 
through B, up through C, down 
through D, up through E, down 
through F, up through G, and so 
on until you get to Z. 

You may have to tie on a new 
piece of yarn before you get 
through. If so, be sure to make 
a square knot so that it will not 
come apart after you have begun 
to weave. 

From Z carry the thread down to the center and weave from 
there round and round over one and under one. Use the tape 
needle for this. Keep on weaving until the yarn gets short. Then 
tie on another piece, or better yet begin with a new piece where you 
left off with the old one. 

Weave clear out to the dots, pushing the threads toward the 
center as you work. This makes it firmer. You may want to put 
in a band of another color. 

When you can put in no more yarn, break out the loom and 
throw it away. Draw the last thread a little tighter until you have 
shaped the hat. Then blanket stitch the edge, or sew it over and 
over, and if you wish, run in a piece of elastic. Make a little tassel 
for the top, and the Tam o’Shanter is ready for your doll to wear. 






20 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


A Dainty Bonnet 

You will need a little piece of batiste, a small scrap of dainty lace 
and ribbon insertion, and one-half yard narrow baby ribbon. 

We shall not 
need a paper pat¬ 
tern this time. We 
can draw on one 
side of the batiste, 
which we will later 
take for the inside. 

Take a thread 
(see thread 1 in the 
illustration) and 
measure around 
dolly’s face under 
the chin and over 
the forehead, in¬ 
cluding a little of the hair. Lay the thread (1) alongside the straight 
edge on the batiste and mark the two points, BB, with a pencil. 
Now take a second thread (2) and measure from dolly’s forehead 
over the head to the center of the neck. Fold the batiste in the 
middle, so that one point B is on top of the other point B. Lay 
thread alongside the folded edge and mark point A with the pencil. 
Measure with thread (2) three more points, as shown in the sketch. 
Finally draw the curve from B through A to B. 

Keeping the batiste together by putting a pin through, cut around 
the curve just outside the pattern to allow enough to turn a hem. 

In finishing the front of the cap, turn the hem and sew the lace 
on at the same time, with small stitches. Apply the insertion for 
the ribbon with neat little stitches. Turn the hem around the neck 
line. Hem it, and gather from one end of the insertion to the other 
on the line indicated by 0-0-0 in the sketch. 

Pull the ribbon through the insertion (pink for a boy doll or blue 
for a girl doll); turn under each end and fasten with a few stitches. 
Sew on the ribbon for the neck or chin-bow with a little loop. At 
last make a pretty bow of the same ribbon and sew it on the left side 
of the cap. 



A DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW TO LAY OUT AND MAKE A 
DOLL’S BONNET 









SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 21 

A Towel for the Guest Room 

A guest is never happy if he feels 
there are not towels enough for every 
one. Your mother will be happy if 
you help her keep plenty of towels on 
hand. They do wear out, you know, 
and new ones should be made every 
little while. 

A good towel may be made from 
huck-a-buck. This you can buy four¬ 
teen or eighteen inches wide. Two-thirds of a yard will make one 
towel. Turn the hem up at each end about an inch wide. At the 
top of the hem pull a thread straight across the towel. After you 
have pulled one thread, pull five or six more to make the space you 
wish for the hemstitching. Baste the hem along this line. See 
Plate I. With a fine needle and No. 70 white thread, put the needle 
through the hem and take up five or six threads of the huck-a-buck. 
Pull the thread toward the hem and it will draw up like a knot, as 
shown in Plate I. Take a short stitch toward you in the top of the 
hem, throw your thread to the right, again take up five threads as 
shown in the illustration and continue across the towel. 

When both ends are hemstitched you are ready for the orna¬ 
mental darning, such as that shown in Plate II. You will notice 





3 

that your huck-a-buck has a distinct weave so that you can easily 
put your needle through the little loops on the cloth. On one side 
these little loops run crosswise or horizontally, as you prefer. 














22 SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Good Needle Practice 

Darning stockings can be made interesting if you try to do : 
very well and a smooth, evenly woven bit of darning can be a thin 
of beauty, because it shows care and skill. 

Some day the knowledge will "come in handy.” Wouldn 
mother be surprised if some day she found her darning all done fo. 
her! 

Get all of the things together which you will need to work with 
—a spool of darning cotton, a coarse needle, about number five, e 
thimble, scissors, and a darning ball to put inside the stocking. 

Thread your needle with the darning cotton and carefully draw 
the edges of the hole to be darned together enough to make tlie> 
goods lie flat, by a row of small running stitches as shown by the 
dotted line in the illustration, Plate 5. Then weave across the hole 
Study the drawing shown very carefully and be sure you follow the 
directions. 

First, go across, from back to front keeping your threads close 
together, as indicated by the light threads in Plate 5. 

Then weave across from left to right going over a thread, then 
under a thread of the back-to-front stitches, as shown by the black 



threads in the illustration. Don’t try to hurry too much with this 
weaving over one thread and under the next, for you want your 
darning to be very neat and even. When the hole is all filled in 
well, draw your thread into the firm part of the stocking and cut off 
close. If there are any little ends, cut them off close, that the stock¬ 
ing may be smooth and flat so as not to hurt the feet. 

Remember that “ A stitch in time saves nine ” and therefore darn 
each little hole in your stockings as soon as it comes. 

















SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


23 



A New Jumper for Your Best Doll 

(1) The Pattern 

Get a piece of tissue paper, fold it, and lay your doll upon it as 
shown in the sketch. Mark on 
the paper points A and B one- 
half inch farther away from the 
head on each side than you 
wish the finished sleeve to be. 

Now mark C, one inch lower 
than you wish the finished 
jumper to hang. Measure with 
a piece of thread the distance 
around the doll, at D, pull op¬ 
posite sides of the circle of 
thread out until the distance 
around shows (double) the dis¬ 
tance across , then add one inch 
on each end, as indicated in the 
sketch, at points E and F. Re¬ 
move the doll. You are now 
ready to draw the outline of the 
pattern (do not forget the open¬ 
ing for the neck) as indicated 
by the double lines, but you 
would better fold your paper 
on the dotted line C, to be sure 
that both sides are alike. Draw 
your embroidery on the pattern 
(see G). 

(2) The Jumper 

Now find your cloth. Ba¬ 
tiste will do. Fold it so that 
the prominent threads will run 
up and down on the jumper; 
fit your pattern to the goods as 
shown at H. Pin it in place 
each time so that it will not slip. 



-©- 


5HAPE OF CLOTH WHEN CUT OUT 


Blanket St’itch 

Embroidery " 

/ — \ rrx s 




















24 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Turn the dress wrong side out and sew the sides together. Fold the 
sleeve hems (one-half inch) and the bottom hem (one inch) and baste 
them. Turn the dress right side out. Finish the neck with the 
blanket stitch, and embroider the jumper as indicated, using any 
color that will harmonize with the doll’s complexion. 

A Teapot Holder 

You may find in the piece-bag some coarse white linen. Cut two 
pieces about five inches square. On one baste a two-inch square of 
cross-stitch canvas. This canvas you can buy at the embroidery 
department of any store. A quarter of a yard will be enough to use 
for a number of things. 

After the canvas is firmly basted on, find some blue embroidery 
cotton. Thread your needle with it and bring it up through the 
linen and through a hole in the canvas, starting at the top of the 
design and working down. Try and have your stitches follow the 
same direction each time. After you have made all the crosses, and 
have left the little empty squares, fasten your thread and carefully 
draw out the threads of the canvas. You will find the little design 
left on the linen. Turn under the edge of the linen all around and 
baste carefully. Do the same to the other square of linen, cut a 
square of some coarse cloth, a little smaller than your linen squares, 
put it between them and then baste them together. Then with your 
blue cotton sew the edges together either over and over or blanket 
stitch. Pull out all the bastings. I think Mother will like this to 
use when company comes. 


A Needlebook 

Find a little flannel, any color will do if pretty. There are 
certainly some beads left from the kindergarten box or from a broken 
necklace. All we need besides are some little ends of dainty ribbon. 

Cut four squares of flannel about four inches on a side. Fold the 
squares half over forming a book. Select four small beads and sew one 
in each corner of the book cover. Put the ribbon around the back 
as smoothly as you can, and across the book for closing it. Fasten the 
ribbon which goes across with a pretty big bead in the center and 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


25 


make six big stitches with a heavy thread around it. Tie a pretty 
little bow to close the book. 

Be sure to choose pretty colors. The colors used in the book for 
a Christmas gift were red flannel, green ribbon, small green beads, a 
big red bead and dark red stitches. When placed in a Christmas 
box it made a dainty gift for the holidays. 


A Bib for the Baby 

Perhaps there is a baby in your house. If so, I am sure you 
would like to make a “Bunny Bib.” It is worked from huck-a-buck 
in the same way as the towels. Cut a paper pattern for the bunnies 
and draw around the pattern on the cloth. Work them in outline 
stitch, that is, sew the line to show the shape of the bunny first, before 
you begin the darning. Cut from the upper end of the bib a place 
for the neck and bind the edge with linen tape, leaving the ends long 
enough to make the strings. 


A Post-Card Holder 

To make the card holder cut two pieces of thin cardboard, fine, 
5i x 3£ inches, also two pieces 41 x 3£ inches. Be sure that you 
keep your edges very even. 

Cut four pieces of linen, two 6£x4£ inches, and two 5£x4& 
inches. 

On one of the larger pieces embroider your design. Make regular, 
smooth stitches close together, side by side across the spaces, using 
rather coarse embroidery thread. 

After the design is worked press the linen on the wrong side with 
a hot iron. Cover one of the smaller pieces of cardboard, drawing 
the opposite sides together with long cross-stitches of strong thread. 
Cover the other pieces of cardboard with the linen. Put the two 
smaller pieces together with right sides out and sew together with 
fine “ over and over ” stitches. Do the same to the larger pieces. 
Over-and-over the ends of the two finished pieces. Catch them 
together at the top with several long loose stitches. Make a button¬ 
holed loop at the top or sew on a small brass ring to hang the 
case up by. 


26 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

A Pin Ball 

Take a round piece of cardboard that is not too stiff. You can 
cut it round by marking the circle with a tumbler. Baste a piece 
of silk on each side, fold in the edges and sew over and over. Finish 
by sewing on a loop of ribbon and a bow. 

The Needlebook 

The needlebook is made exactly the same way as the pin ball, 
only make two instead of one. Find some pieces of white flannel 
and cut two pieces the same size as the outside. Clip the edge in 
little fine points and sew them in between the two covers. Tie a 
small ribbon bow and sew on where the covers and flannel are 
fastened together and sew two pieces on the opposite sides to tie the 
book together with. 

If mother has one of these she will find it very handy. 

A Pin Case 

Something the littlest girl can make! Place something round (a 
small tumbler or bottle will do) on some white cardboard, and draw 
around it twice, making two circles. 

Cut these out. Then cut two pieces of silk, flowered or plain, 
about a half inch larger than the cardboards. Gather the circles a 
little way in from the edge and cover the cardboards. Place the two 
together with right sides out and sew over and over the edges with 
fine stitches. Fill with pretty pins and some one will be pleased to 
find a place for this little pin case in her hand bag. 

If your silk is plain you may wish to put a little embroidery 
on it. Do it before you cover the cardboard. 

Any neat handed little girl can make her own Christmas gifts. 
She can make out a list of things to be made for each member of the 
family and if she begins early enough she will be surprised at the 
result. 

Many things can be made without sewing. Take three strips of 
ribbon and pin them together with a small safety-pin. All along 
the strips pin in safety-pins of different sizes. 

Get a celluloid ring of white or of any color and tie it by a long 
loop of ribbon, finished with a bow. This will make a hanger for 
your brother’s cravats. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


27 


How to Make a Santa Claus Bag That is Good to 
Use at Any Time 

Cloth of any kind twelve by ten inches in size will do. If you 
want a dainty bag, use silk. Place the cloth right side down on the 
table, the twelve-inch edge running left and right. Turn over a 
quarter-inch hem, and then a three-quarter-inch hem (see sketch at 
D); turn it evenly,—and sew with the hemming stitch as you did 
the dolly's dress. Then fold the cloth right side inside, to bring the 
two ends of the hem exactly together, as shown at D, and sew up 
the bottom and the side seams with the back-stitch. Now turn the 
bag right side out. Snip little holes through one thickness of the 
cloth about a quarter-inch each side the seam and the fold,—do not 
cut them too big (see H, H, in the sketch); through these thread the 
draw-string into the hem. Overcast the edges of the holes, or 
buttonhole stitch them if you know how. If you have a scrap of 
lace sew it on the top. Make your draw strings about eighteen 
inches long. Thread them in opposite directions so that when they 
are pulled the bag will close at the mouth very securely. Select 
some red and green beads and sew them on the strings and the 
corners of the bag. 

On a piece of ribbon work a Christmas Tree, one that is grow¬ 
ing in a small box or tub. Make the tree and tub green and have 
the little beads bright red or flame color. 



HOW TO FOLD THE HEM AND STRING UP A CHRISTMAS BAG 


Place the ribbon head downward and wrong side up on your 
bag, and baste the end to the bag just under the top hem. Fold the 
ribbon down. 

After Christmas this ribbon may be taken off and one with your 
monogram worked on it may be put in its place. 
















28 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Something for a Sick Friend 

Perhaps some little girl might like to make 
something for a friend who is ill, and just able 
to sit up in bed. This is easy to slip on, over 
the head. 

First select some pretty cloth a yard wide. 
Challis or nun’s veiling is pretty, or soft 
flannel, or even one of the pretty cotton crepes. 
If you choose cloth which has a little figure 
or flower on it you might omit the feather 
stitching. You will need just a yard. Be 
sure that the ends are straight and even. 
You will need also some silk the color of the 
cloth to hem with, and some silkateen for the 
feather stitching. It will take one and a half 
yards of ribbon three-fourths of an inch wide for the neck. Now fol¬ 
low the directions on the next page carefully, and you will have no 
trouble. 

When you have finished, write a little card with this verse on it 
and tie on to the ribbons at the neck. Then carry it to cheer some 
one and I am sure she will be very happy. 

“ Here’s a bushel of love, 

I’ve sewed in with these stitches, 

And I give all to you, 

With my very best wishes.” 



A CAPE THAT MAKES A 
SICK PERSON LOOK 
BETTER 


A Bean Bag 

Find some heavy colored linen or cheviot—a good firm piece. 
Cut two pieces five inches square. On one baste a small piece of 
canvas and carefully work some pattern you think sister would like. 
Then pull out the threads as you did in the other bag. Next, 
sew the two squares together firmly, leaving an inch open to put in 
the beans. About a half inch from the edge make a chain stitch 
with your embroidery cotton. Sew up the opening and you have 
something sister will enjoy playing with. 



SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


29 




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DIRECTIONS FOR A CAPE 
































30 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Bags for Christmas 

When Christmas comes it is time to think about gifts for those 
we love. Every one thinks more of something made where “ love is 
sewed up in the stitches/' so let's try to ma&e as many gifts as 
we can. 

There are some pretty and useful bags that are easily made. 
The little bags are filled with lavender flowers, which may be bought 
at any drug store. Ten or fifteen cents worth will fill several bags. 
They may be made of figured muslin, or of white or lavender lawn 
or linen. 

Cut a piece ten inches long and two and one-half inches wide. 
Fold the ends together. Sew up the sides with a fine running stitch 
—that is close,—using No. 60 white cotton thread. When you 
have finished, fasten your thread by taking three or four stitches, 
one on top of the others. 

Turn the top edges in, about three-quarters of an inch and hold 
in place with the same running stitch, leaving the end of your 
thread long, without fastening. 

Fill the bag with lavender flowers, draw up the thread you left 
out, and fasten well. Tie a white or lavender ribbon around, mak¬ 
ing a pretty little bow. 

Another bag easily made is a convenient little work bag. It 
takes one yard of ribbon five or six inches wide. Cut two round 
pieces of cardboard three inches in diameter. Cut two circles of the 
ribbon four inches in diameter. Gather each circle about a fourth 
of an inch from the edge. Lay the cardboards on each piece and 
draw up the thread until the silk fits tightly and smooth. Lay the 
two covered circles with wrong sides together and sew over and over 
with little fine stitches around the edge. Sew the ends of the ribbon 
together making a French seam, turn the top of the ribbon down an 
inch and hem neatly as you can. (See Fig. 6.) A half inch above 
the hemming stitches, make a line of running stitches for the casing. 
Very close to the lower edge of the bag put a row of fine gathering. 
Turn wrong side out, and pin the lower edge to the covered circles, 
keeping the gathers even all around. Sew the gathered edge to the 
bottom with close, small stitches, fasten the thread and turn the 
bag right side out. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


31 



DIAGRAMS THAT WILL HELP YOU IN MAKING DIFFERENT KINDS OF BAGS 
FOR CHRISTMAS 


Make two openings in the casing to run the ribbon into. To do 
this, fold the top edge of the bag evenly and cut two small slits on 
the outside part of the bag (one opposite the other) in the casing. 
(See Fig. 8.) Buttonhole around these slits with silk the color of 
the bag. (See Fig. 9.) Thread the tape needle with ribbon (one yard 
































32 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

of one-half or three-fourths inch ribbon), put it through one of the 
slits and run it into the casing, carrying it way round the bag and 
out. Run another piece of ribbon the same length into the oppo¬ 
site slit and way around. Tie the ends of each together and sew 
firmly. 

A good bag for knitting or crocheting can be made so one may 
keep the ball of cotton or wool in the bag while the arm may be 
slipped through the top. This bag is made of a piece of ribbon 
twenty-four inches long and six inches wide. Join the ends and 
sew the looped ribbon together to form a bag nine inches deep. This 
bag is pretty when made of figured cretonne. 


A Spool Case 

The spools measure 5" in diameter and 1-5" in length. In mak¬ 
ing the case, first take a piece of cardboard 1-1" x 6". In modifying 
the top so that the case will hang, shorten the card to 5-5" as in 
Fig. 1. Next cut a piece of silk about 5" larger all around, and 
cover the cardboard, using paste to attach the silk to the back of 
the card, but using none on the front, as it sometimes stains or 
comes through the fabric. 

Next make a paper pattern for the sides of the case. Place the 
cardboard upon paper, draw around a spool at the left as seen in 
Fig. 2. Allow space below for the two other spools and sketch in 
the boundary for the left side of the pattern. Next fold the pattern 
on the dot and dash line and cut the other side. Then open the 
folded pattern, place it upon a piece of leather, and cut the leather 
case. Drawing around this pattern makes the leather a little larger 
than the original measurements. This will allow for folding when 
the cardboard back is pasted upon the leather. 

After placing the spools and measuring carefully, punch six 
holes in the leather sides, and a seventh at the top for hanging the 
case if desired. In lacing, take a piece of tape or narrow ribbon of 
an harmonious color, draw it first through the lowest spool and 
corresponding holes in the leather, then carry the tape up the out¬ 
side, lace each end through the second spool, up again and through 
the third spool, tie the tape at the back of the case, carry both ends 
through the hole at the top and tie in a loop. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


33 



Fig 4- 



PATTERN FOR A SPOOL CASE 


This is an attractive gift to make for one who travels. Spools 
of various colors can be used. The article will take up very little 
space and it will be a constant help when a stitch is needed. 
























34 


SOMETHING TO DO. GIRLS 




THE SIMPLEST OF CROSS-STITCH ALPHABETS. ANYBODY CAN EASILY INVENT THE 
BEST OF THE LETTERS BY MODIFYING THESE 

Cross-Stitch Letters 

Cross-stitch letters can be worked on little guest towels for your 
mother’s room. The weave of the cloth will show you just where to 
place your stitches. The letters can be worked in color to match 
the room. Perhaps you will like to make a sampler as your grand¬ 
mother did long ago. That is the best way to learn how to make 
cross-stitch letters. 

A book-mark of purple ribbon with an initial in yellow is pretty 
and makes an inexpensive gift. The crosses to be worked for the 
outline of the letters can be made with a lead pencil. 

Such a book-mark will make a dainty present to give your grand¬ 
mother at Easter time. You can choose a white satin ribbon and 
work it with purple if you prefer. 


“ A fair little girl sat under a tree 
Sewing as long as her eyes could see. 
Then smoothed her work 
And folded it right, 

And said, * Dear work, 

Good-night, good-night! ’ ” 



SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


35 


Pressing Flowers 

On Sunday and other days through the week look for spring 
flowers and grasses. Press them between pieces of blotting paper. 
When they are dry mount them on paper the size of the pages in 
your Picture Book. Under or beside the flowers write its name and 
where it was found. 

If you can copy the spring flowers with crayons or paints make 
as many pictures as you wish to make. Under or beside them write, 
“ To help us think of God’s flowers.” 

If you choose paper of one size you can bind them together for a 
book by themselves. 

When you take a pleasant walk gather a few flowers or grasses 



HOW TO FASTEN PRESSED FLOWERS TO A CARD 
WITHOUT BREAKING THEM 


and when you have pressed them carefully, place them in your book 
and write down something about your walk. Keep a little record of 
what you saw and what you thought and with whom you talked. 
You will like to refer to it some time and it will keep a happy day 
in your memory. 












36 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

A Muff and Collar for Sister’s Doll 
These cold days Dolly will need a muff and collar to keep her 
warm. But how are you going to get them ? Don't you think, 
little reader, that the best way is to make them yourself? Read 
these directions carefully and you will see how easily it is done. 

The Muff 

First you will want a small piece of muslin. Then ask Mother 
if she hasn’t a scrap of light silk for a lining. Any color will do. 
Mother will also let you have a piece of velvet or a bit of fur for the 
outside, I am sure. Now we are ready to begin. Cut a piece of 
muslin 7 inches long and 31 inches wide. Lay this piece on the 
silk that you are to use for the lining and baste it lightly on. Then 
cut the lining all around, being sure that it is a quarter of an inch 
larger on every side than the muslin. Fold this quarter inch of silk 
over the muslin and baste it. The next thing to do is to make the 
trimming to go around the edge of the muff. For this you can use 
a piece of narrow lace or you can use some of the silk of which you 
made the lining. If you use the silk, cut a piece one inch wide and 
about 30 inches long. Fold it in the middle lengthwise and gather 
where the two edges come together. Then baste this gathered ruffle 
around the two long sides and one short side of the piece you just 
made, being sure to baste it on the same side you basted the lining. 
Now for the outside of the muff. If you use fur you will need a 
piece 7 inches long by 3£ inches wide. If you use velvet cut the 
piece 7 by 31 inches and turn in the edges half an inch. Sew the 
outside piece neatly to the gathered edge. When you have done 
this, fold in the shape of a muff and fasten the narrow ends together, 
leaving the end with the ruffle on the outside. Add a little ribbon 
with which to hang the muff about Dolly’s neck and your work is 
done. 

The Collar 

The collar will require the same kinds of materials as you used 
for the muff. You can have any shaped collar that you like by 
folding a piece of the muslin round the doll’s neck and fitting it 
smoothly. Then make the collar from your material just as you 
made the muff. Sew a bit of ribbon to each end of the collar to tie 
it round the doll’s neck. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


37 


A School Bag 

What little girl would not like to make a school bag to hold her 
books? It can be made strong enough to hold the lunch and other 
things that also go to school. 

You could make yours of heavy linen, denim, or any strong ma¬ 
terial which will stand hard wear. And it is safe to say that any 
school bag has hard wear. 

Cut a piece fifty-two inches long by twelve inches wide. Fold it, 
and with strong thread about 30 or 40, sew up the sides with a back 
stitch, Fig. 1, until within four inches of the top. This opening at 
the top must be hemmed very nicely on each side, Fig. 2 on the fol¬ 
lowing page. Turn the edge over one-eighth of an inch, Fig. 3, and 
then turn it down again as far as the opening at the top of the seams. 
The finished hem will look like Fig. 4, on each side of the bag. 

To make the casing to run the cord in, put a line of stitching 
one-half inch above the hemming stitches, Fig. 5. This can be made 
wide enough to admit the strings. 

Thread a tape needle with a piece of tape or strong cord, and run 
into the casing. Start at one opening and run it through the casing 
until you get to the opening. Tie the two ends together in a hard 
knot. Then start another piece of tape at the other opening and run 
all the way through until it comes back again. Tie these two ends 
as you did the first ones. Work your initials on one side and any¬ 
thing you may wish on the other side. Sometimes two rings—in¬ 
terlaced and made of contrasting colors,—is pretty. 

Corduroy velvet is a stout material that wears well and instead 
of making a hem for draw strings—bone rings can be sewed round 
the top about two inches apart and a round cord can be carried 
through the rings. 

Green flannel is another kind of material for bags and it stands 
wear so well that even when dropped in the snow,—as school books 
sometimes are,—it does not suffer greatly and the books are still 
kept dry. 

If you wish to make the bag very strong you can use an inter¬ 
lining of cambric or sateen. Cut it the same size as the outside but 
close the seams first so that they will not show on the inside of the 
bag. 


38 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 







The directions are so easy and the lines of this bag so simple that 
it can be used as a pattern for every other kind of a bag, whether of 
silk or even leather. If you can find a large piece of leather you 
can stitch it on the sewing machine with a strong needle. The top 
can be folded down and holes punched through to admit the strings. 
When you cut out the bag there will be waste leather from which 
you can easily make your strings ; such strings will wear better than 
cord. 





































SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


39 


Paper Mats to Play Games With 

Find some smooth paper,—red, black, gray, white, or any color, 
—and any size. Let’s begin with a 4-inch square. Now you will 
want a ruler, a pencil, a sharp knife, scissors, and paste. 

Measure and draw lines on your square as shown at A. Be 
careful to have them just right. With your knife cut on the four 
heavy vertical lines inside the square. You have now made a 
weaving mat . 

Now cut some strips of paper of another color, a color that 
will look well with the mat. (Red and black, or blue and white, 
or purple and gray, or white and gray, go well together.) Make 
three of these 1 inch wide and 4 inches long, like B. These are 

weavers . 

You are now ready to weave. Put a weaver up through slit 1, 
down through slit 2, up through slit 3, and down through slit 4. 
Push the weaver hard up to the ends of the slits. Take another 
weaver and bring it up through slit 2, down through 3. Take a 
third weaver and put it up through 1, down through 2, up through 






Rubt>«r 

D Weaver 

C k- 


» 

Nceout . 

> 


3 and down through 4. The sharp point of your knife will help in 
weaving. 

Turn over the mat and fasten the ends of the weavers with a 
little paste. You have now a mat on which you can play the good 
old game of Tit-tat-too by using five white buttons and five colored 
ones. 























40 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Now make a bigger mat. Get a smooth piece of wrapping paper 
10 inches square. Rule and cut slits 1 inch apart, leaving a 1 inch 
margin top and bottom. Make weavers 1 inch wide and 10 inches 
long. Dark brown or red or black paper would be a good color. 
To weave such a mat as this a weaving needle is best. You can 

make one by splitting the end of a stick, not larger than a lead 

pencil, winding a rubber band on it, and sharpening the other 
end. Put the weaver in the split end, as shown at C. Weave 

“one over and one under,” and then “one under and one over,” 

as before. Fasten the ends of the weavers on the wrong side with 
paste. 

On this mat you can now play checkers or give-away, with 
buttons, sixteen white and sixteen colored. It is always good fun to 
make your own playthings. 


Other Useful and Pretty Woven Things 

Weaving mats of paper may be purchased at any kindergarten 
supply place. A package of two dozen costs 10 cents. A weaving 
needle, 5 cents. With such an outfit you could do a lot of fine 
things. Half the papers in a packet have wide uncut borders. The 
other half are cut to be used as weavers. The half-inch and quarter- 
inch strips are best. It is good fun to see how many patterns you 
can invent. A collection of such patterns is interesting. Once you 
have begun weaving paper you will want to weave other things. To 
work in raffia it is necessary to learn to weave simple things first. 

When you have practiced a while on “ over one and under one ” 
try over two and under two; over one and under two ; over three 
and under one, etc. 

Pretty effects may be made by using a tint and a shade of 
the same color (for instance, light and dark green), or by putting 
some bright color with a gray background. You should never 
use two contrasting colors unless they are soft enough to look well 
together. 

Square mats, especially those in silver and gold, make pretty 
tea-party table decorations. 

Pretty bags can be made by weaving two different shades of ribbon 
together in the same way that you wove the paper. 


SIMPLE THINGS THAT A GIRL CAN MAKE 


41 


Patterns for May Baskets 

I. Mark around a saucer to get the circle. Cut on dark lines. 
Bend up the sides and paste a to a. Snip at 1, 2, 3, etc., to make 
the fringe. Add the strings. 

II. In this we cut fringes from x and y as indicated at the lower 
right y. Bend up the sides and tie the corners. 

III. This is one more fully decorated with colored crayons. 
Cut on the heavy lines. Paste x to y and add the strings. 

IV. Having folded the square on one diagonal, fold opposite 
corners to the center. Cut the fringes. Crease slightly at x and y 
and bring the corners a and b together. Tie with string. 

V. Fold on one diagonal a-b. Draw the arcs 1-2, using the 
saucer. Cut the fringe. Bring the corners together with the 
string. 




What shall you put in your basket? Sometimes a bit of moss 
with a flower or two is a pretty filling or if you prefer you can use 
home-made candy,—or even sweet sugar cookies. 























42 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

How to Make a Tumbler Cover 
Find a piece of coarse huck-a-buck 5£ inches square, and hem it. 
Your mother will show you how. It will now be just 5 inches 
square. 

What is your favorite color? Get some coarse embroidery 
thread of that color, and with a blunt pointed embroidery needle, 
come up from the under side, at one corner, just where you want 
your bordered line to start, and work the line carefully round 
material. At the end go down through the same hole with 
which you started. Now select four large beads of the right color 
to look well with the color you are using, and four little beads of 
the same color as your thread. Put the thread through a large 
bead, through a small one, back through the large one, draw it tight 
and fasten it securely in the cloth. Attach beads at the other 
corners in the same way. 

This cover can be used to keep dust and flies out of your glass 
of milk, or to cover a medicine glass, if you are ever so naughty as 
to be ill. 


A Winter Bouquet 

Find a short fat jar of some kind, with a wide open top, like the 
little stone crock your mother keeps cookies in. Fill it nearly full 
of sand. When on your Sunday afternoon walks collect sprays of 
the evergreen trees and shrubs,—pine, hemlock, cedar, holly, laurel, 
ilex; a few Christmas ferns and other wild plants; a few sprays 
bearing colored berries,—catbrier, bayberry, bittersweet, rose, and 
especially the alder with its bright red berries. With these build a 
bouquet by sticking the stems in the sand in your jar. Begin with 
the largest green sprays. Add the bright berries last. Make the 
bouquet quite round and massive. When finished the bouquet 
should look green with little masses of brown and dots of bright 
color here and there. 

When you are at the seaside, go down to the shallow water that 
flows in round the rocks. You will see different kinds of moss 
growing to the stones. You can pull this off and you will be sur¬ 
prised to find the great variety in the patterns. Press what you find 
upon stiff paper and attach them with a bit of mucilage, and write 
the date on which you found them. 


PICTURES TO COPY 


43 



Pictures to Copy 


April vShowers 

If }^ou wish to copy this picture, begin by drawing the square. 
Divide the square of the picture into smaller squares, and then draw 
the different portions of the picture in these squares. First draw the 
umbrella top. Next, the outline of the girl. Draw the face last. 
Draw your lines very carefully so that they will be even and firm. 












SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


44 



Here is a boy running for a swim in the ocean. See if you can 
copy him and make him look as much alive as he does here. De¬ 
cide upon the size of the square you will use, then rule light ver¬ 
tical and horizontal lines to divide these into small squares. Divide 
each square the same way and proceed. 


A Frisky Little Pan 

Have you ever seen one of these ? As you see, he’s not quite a 
human, and he is not a child! Did you ever hear about Pan? 

















PICTURES TO COPY 


45 



You see this little fellow is not really Pan,—not yet, anyway, be¬ 
cause when you read about Pan he always has a beard and hard 
horns, He is a young Pan, a sort of Pan-nikin. 






4G 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Under the Maple Tree 

This little girl is enjoying a hot day in August. She is visiting 
her grandparents at the farm. She is out under a maple tree read¬ 
ing a story book. If it were not so very hot and the story so very 
good she might try to sketch a little—perhaps she could draw the 
maple bough that sweeps down to her. Perhaps you could draw 
from a real maple bough instead of from the one I have tried to 
show. It is really more fun to try to draw from real things or 
imaginary ones than to copy things from pictures. 





PICTURES TO COPY 


47 



Tom, Tom, tbe Piper’s sod, 
Stole a pig aud away he rua, 


The pig was eat, aud Tom was beat, 
Aud Tom ran cryiDg down the street. 
























4S 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



GERDA FINDS HER PLAYMATE 









PICTURES TO COPY 


49 


The Frolicsome Wind of March 

My! How lively he is I How he whirls things about! How 
he whistles ! Read that jolly old poem written by William Howitt, 
then look at this drawing again. This is the first one you have had 
in a circle. You would better begin the copying by ruling light 
vertical and horizontal lines as indicated by the dots. The hardest 
part to draw is his left hand. Sketch very lightly at first, until you 
are sure every line is in the right place. 



A PEN-AND-INK DRAWING 








50 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


A Gay Little Whiff of a Fairy 



One day a little whiff of summer wind blew into a garden and 
played a game with the flowers and the sunshine and the yellow 
butterflies. And a gay little whiff of a summer fairy played in the 
game too! Can you not make another one? 

This drawing must be made with a light stroke of the pen or 
pencil. Every touch must be given with delicacy. If you should 
color the sketch, make the butterflies blue, the fairy wings yellow 
and the dress of any pale shade. 

Be sure that the figure is placed on the square at the right 
angle; if it is too horizontal it will not give the effect of flying 
upward ; but it must not be drawn straight up and down because 
the fairy would seem to be standing. Bend the flower too so that it 
will seem to be gently blown by the wind. 







SOMETHING TO DRAW 


51 


Something to Draw 


Get some sheets of drawing paper 6x9 and a big manila envel¬ 
ope to keep them in. Have a good soft lead pencil and use it only 
for drawing. Keep it in the envelope with your sheets so that you 
will always know where it is. Follow the directions as well as you 
can. Number your sheets in order and save them so that you can 
see how much you improve. 

Things on Wheels 

Did you ever think how difficult it would be for people to get 
along without wheels? You are sure to want them in your pic¬ 
tures, so let us make a study of them. Some children draw a wheel 
like Figure 1 and, of course, you can tell what it is, but that place 
where the spokes meet should be in the center unless you want the 
load to go wildly up and down when the wheel turns. Try to draw 
a real circle free-hand. Draw lightly, trimming off the bumps and 
smoothing up the hollow places until it is as good as Figure 2, which 
was done free-hand. Then put a dot in the very center. You can 
find it. The hub is in the center of every wheel. Draw a circle 
around this dot big enough for the hub. The simplest kind of a 
wheel can be cut out of a round board. Perhaps you have made 
one like this for a wheelbarrow. Figure 6 shows how the box of a 
cart is placed to hold up the axle-tree. 

Most wheels are not solid, but have spokes running straight out 
from the hub to the rim, with equal spaces between. Try Figure 3. 
Every time you make a good wheel use it to build a wheelbarrow, 
cart, bicycle, baby carriage, or some other thing that goes on wheels. 

Wheels hold up great weights if they are well made and roll 
along the ground easily. See how much easier it is for the man 
with the wheelbarrow to move his load. Figure 7 shows a good way 
to begin a wheelbarrow. 

Did you ever see a drawing in which the wheels were made like 
Figure 5 ? Wheels are not like that at all, but when they go very fast 
the spokes whiz around so that you cannot see anything but a blun\ 




SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


oo 


Drawings by Helen F. Cleaves. 









SOMETHING TO DRAW 


53 


Buildings in a City 

Do you live in the city ? If so, you must see hundreds of build¬ 
ings ; more buildings than anything else. Do you really see them 
or do you just walk by ? Try to draw a city house, beginning with 
two good verticals for the walls. How many kinds of front doors 
do you know ? It is surprising, when you once begin to notice, 
how many beautiful front doors people have made. You might 
make a little sketch book of drawing paper and draw doors and 
different windows. Do you know the style of architecture called 
colonial? The drawings may be small but carefully done, showing 
just how the panels and frames are made. You can study the many 
houses that you see and draw some like them. 

Can you tell from the outside of a house how many families 
are supposed to live in it? When you draw windows which do 
you make dark, the curtains and frames or the space between? 
Notice the windows in house A on the following page. 

Is there a garage near your house? Where do you go for 
groceries? Can you draw the nearest fire station? These things 
all help to make an interesting street. What a good moving 
picture you can make if you draw these buildings all out on a 
long strip of paper and put people going and coming on the side¬ 
walk ! 

Then you must know your own schoolhouse. Is it like the 
one at the foot of the next page ? Perhaps not, but you can 
show in a picture how yours looks in front. Is the front door 
pleasant to enter? What kind of a fence do you have around 
it? Draw the very best picture you can of your school build¬ 
ing. 

Run your finger over the space in this picture which shows 
the school yard and the sidewalk outside the fence. Those tiny 
marks are the places where the feet of boys and girls are touch¬ 
ing the ground. Sometimes there are two feet on the ground and 
sometimes only one. There are sixteen children. Think what 
each child may be doing, and draw him. Complete the fence. 
Which way is the wind blowing? When you have finished the 
picture it should look like a school yard at about half-past eight 
in the morning. 


54 SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Th-nwinas bv Helen E. Cleaves . 




































































SOMETHING TO DRAW 


55 


Thanksgiving Weather Record 

November means to many people a month of bleak, desolate 
days when all the leaves have gone and all the birds have flown. 
But the month contains one day at least that is sure to be merry,— 
Thanksgiving Day. 

One thing we ought to learn and that is to like all kinds of 
weather and never to fret even though the winds howl. Some grown 
people have never learned to do that. But we must, for in the first 
place it doesn’t do a mite of good to fuss about the weather and in 
the second place it does a good deal of harm because it makes Mother 
and every one else near us unhappy. 

Come to think of it, isn’t there something lovely about every 
kind of weather? I think it would be fine to try this : 

Every morning in November when you get out of bed find some¬ 
thing to be thankful for about that day’s weather. That would be 
real Thanksgiving, because it would be a Thanksgiving that would 
last for thirty long days. 

Make a weather calendar like that shown on the next page. 
Draw it all on a white card, or, if that is too hard for you, cut out the 
page and paste it on a card. In each little square in the calendar 
where the figures are, draw day by day the sign of the weather for 
that day,—the sun, or the slanting lines for rain, or the dots for 
snow, or the shading for clouds and fog. For example if it snows 
on the 26th, that little square would be full of dots. Perhaps you 
could shape the dots like snowflakes. 

In the 50th Psalm it says “ Offer unto the Lord thanksgiving.” 
This means not only in November but all the year round and not 
only for the weather but for all His blessings. That will, indeed, be 
“ something to do.” 

If you find it hard to give reasons for being glad about the 
weather some day, just look out of the window a while. I am sure 
you will see something beautiful that you could not see in a different 
kind of weather. A fog makes the ugliest thing beautiful. Rain 
brightens all the colors and snow covers from sight all unlovely 
things and lends a sparkle to all that is dull. 

On the first Sunday of the month copy the weather picture that 
fits the day, and beneath it print, as beautifully as you can, some 
reason why you are glad. 


56 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


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A WEATHER RECORD CALENDAR TO BE COPIED OR TRACED 



































SOMETHING TO DRAW 


57 


Making Faces 

Making faces on paper is almost as easy as making them before 
the glass and really is more fun. Two round dots or circles for 
eyes, a tiny mark for the tip of the nose and one for the mouth are 
enough. Try Fig. 1 on the next page. Make another with eyes 
closer together and nose farther down, like a thin person’s face, 
Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is just the opposite, with eyes far apart and nose 
moved up. This looks like a fat and happy person. Stretch the 
mouth a little to make a smile. 

Try making eyes with circles. Place a dot in the center. This 
leaves the white showing all around, Fig. 4, and, of course, the face 
looks surprised. Go to the looking-glass and see if you can look as 
surprised as that I Say “ Oh! ” Notice your mouth. Draw it. 
Why is it that you cannot see the whites of your eyes all the time? 
The lid comes down like a curtain and hides the top, Fig. 5. Some¬ 
thing must be the matter with Fig. 6. You know now what changes 
take place in your own face when you are sad or cross. 

When you laugh, the corners of your mouth turn up, and push 
your cheeks up so that your eyes have to peek over them, Fig. 7. 
Fig. 8 looks surprised at something on the floor or down-stairs. Try 
making the dots in different parts of the circle. 

Draw an oval, Fig. 9. Now your whole head is egg-shaped. 
Some eggs, of course, are nearly round, while others are long and 
thin. Heads differ in the same way. Draw a horizontal line through 
the middle of the head. The eyes and tops of ears come as low as 
this. All space above is reserved for brains. A well shaped head is 
high above the ears. 

Make as many faces as you like and notice how the expression 
changes every time you change a mark. Boys would look like girls 
if they wore long hair. Your drawings need not look like these. 
If they look like people that is enough. Make your own faces and 
enjoy them. Draw Figs. 10 and 11 without the hair and tell this 
picture story to your uncle or somebody who likes stories. “ Once 
there was a man who looked like this, Fig. 10. He tried some won¬ 
derful hair tonic. After a while he wrote this letter to the man who 
made the tonic.” (See bottom of picture page.) This story is not 
funny unless you make the pictures every time you tell it. Try to 
think of another story about the eyes, or the mouth. 


58 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


© © © © 


I. X. 




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© ® 


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jSk. A 


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© © 

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Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 









SOMETHING TO DRAW 


59 


Heads 

When you have learned to draw a face front view and can do it 
perfectly, it is then the time to try drawing the side view. That is 
more difficult. 

Begin first as in Fig. 1 on the page following by drawing an egg 
shape inside a square. Notice where the small end of the egg is. 
The longest line you could draw through the egg would be a slant¬ 
ing one, as you can see. Notice how the egg fits into the square. 
Now draw another square and put another egg into it. Draw a line 
across the center of the square. In turning this egg-shape into a 
side-view head, the nose should be drawn just below this line, as you 
see in Fig. 2, and you will see that the distance from the nose to the 
chin is just l the whole height of the head. The eye is a small 
triangle not far from the nose. The ear is just as long as the nose 
itself. 

Now draw Fig. 3, beginning exactly as you began for Fig. 2, 
adding the line for the mouth and a little curve above the chin. 
Notice that the chin takes up \ of the space between the nose and 
the bottom of the square. You would better draw a number of faces 
like Fig. 3, using the square and the egg, before going any further. 
Then try the others without the square. You will find that it is 
very good practice. 

You see that Fig. 4, the baby, scarcely differs in outline from the 
egg. Notice that the eye of the baby is much lower than that of the 
grown-up. The old man, Fig. 5, has his eye much higher than the 
man in Fig. 3, and the line from the nose to the chin curves in, be¬ 
cause he has lost his teeth. See how the Village Brag’s nose turns 
up, and how long his upper lip is. Notice how frightened the next 
boy looks. 

Notice in this, the round eye, and the open mouth. Fig. 8 is 
almost exactly the egg again, with the peak of the cap added at the 
back. Fig. 9 might be the Man in the Moon. Compare with Fig. 5, 
eye with eye, and mouth with mouth. Fig. 10 is a jolly little pick¬ 
aninny, and Fig. 11 is saying to Fig. 12, his angry mother, “ Honest, 
I did not go swimming to-day! ” See what you can make your 
faces say to one another. In doing that you make your drawings 
express a language. 


60 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 





1 2 <5 




HOW TO MAKE HEADS OUT OF EGGS 


12 









61 


SOMETHING TO DRAW 

Circles That Lie Down 

Have you noticed that things look different every time they move t 
Of course, a ball is the exception. It always looks round, but other 
things have wonderful tricks of shrinking or changing shape when 
they lie down or turn around. Have you ever noticed that a hilly 
place in the road flattens out as you approach it? 

Now A in the illustration on the page following is a common 
little circle with a dot in the center, standing up on edge. Cut a 
real circle out of paper and place a dot in the center. Get a tooth¬ 
pick and we will do an experiment. Stand the circle up in your 
hand, with its face toward you, like A. Probably it will not stand 
at all unless you hold it. Circles never like to stand up. Now tip 
it over until it lies flat on its back in your hand. Stretch your arm 
out as far as you can reach. Does it look round any more ? Put 
the toothpick through the center, like an umbrella handle and hold 
it off at arm’s length. Draw it. Does your drawing look like C ? 
This new curved shape is an ellipse. Would you mind trying a few 
just for practice? 

We will say that B is a track for you to try on once or twice. Put 
your pencil at 1. Get ready, swing off lightly to the left, past the 
first arrow, around the end without a break, past 2, slow up a bit at 
3, but do not stop. Try to make this end like the other. Put on 
the brakes at 4 by drawing more heavily and try to slide onto the 
track again at point 1, going over the line a little way to hide the 
joining. 

Take your own paper now and try several. Choose the best ones 
and carefully place the dot for the center. You can make the good 
ones into pictures. Draw a little man for a ringmaster, with his 
feet right on the center dot. Put a horse on the ring anywhere you 
like and you have the beginning of a circus. E is a round pond. 
Make boats at 1 and 2. If you have another good ellipse draw the 
center pole high and put children all around the edge, winding a 
May-pole with colored ribbons. Put in enough children to go around. 
Think of all the ring games which you can draw. Plant bright 
flowers around the base of the flagpole. Finish the lawn umbrella 
and color it. Put more people under it. Now you know one of the 
most important tricks of picture making. It is something that you 
must understand before your pictures will look right. 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 







SOMETHING TO DRAW 


63 


A Rabbit 

Can you draw a rabbit? Do you draw yours like Fig. 1 on the 
following page which does look more like a rabbit than anything 
else, and yet there is nothing just right about it. His nose, ears, 
back, tail and legs are all wrong. 

Perhaps there is an animal store or a zoo near your home so that 
you can see a live rabbit once in a while, or, better yet, you may 
own one. If so, try to learn him, one line at a time, so that you can 
draw him from memory. 

Learn the side view of his head first because that does not 
change every time he moves. Fig. 2 shows the bump in his nose. 
His eye is under this. He has a left and right ear, Fig. 3, not a 
front and back one like Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows his shoulder and the 
long line over his back. Of course you can draw his tail I His 
long back legs fold up like a 2, and his front legs are so short and 
covered with fur that when he squats you cannot find any long 
line under him. It is best to make only a dot or two for his elbow 
and little front paw. 

Now if we have learned all his pieces we must put him together 
carefully, getting the sizes right. If you make his body small 
he will look like a baby rabbit, Fig. 5. All babies have large 
heads and small bodies. Fig. 6 looks like an older rabbit because 
the body is larger. 

Now try making him do things. Move his ears, Fig. 7. If he 
hears a dog bark he will sit up like Fig. 8. Notice that his head is 
the same shape and his back legs are still folded, but his back is 
almost vertical. If the dog is really coming he will fold back his 
ears, unfold his long legs and then seem to lengthen out and away 
he goes, Fig. 9. 

When a rabbit looks right at you there is not much to draw 
except his ears, two eyes and the tip of his nose, but you must get 
them in the right place. When he is looking the other way he 
surely is funny and easy to draw. Put a blue jacket on him and 
he is Peter Rabbit, the rascal! Be sure you learn to do him without 
the book. If you can say a poem from memory, I am sure you can 
learn a rabbit “by heart.” Practice one line at a time, and don't 
give up until he is yours for keeps. 



SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


PETEK 


* i V» V3* * • ^ 

Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 


65 


SOMETHING TO DRAW 

Houses That Look Real 

If you are like most people you enjoy building things. When 
you draw you are building with lines instead of blocks or boards. 
It is pleasant to build with lines because you can make all the lines 
you need, but be sure you never waste any. 

To build a house begin with the walls just as the carpenter 
does and be very careful that they do not slant the least bit. You 
know what would happen to a house if the walls began to slant. 
Do not put the roof on until the walls are true uprights. It is fine 
to be able to draw a straight, vertical line if you intend to build 
good pictures. 

No. 1 on the next page is a very simple little house but it is well 
built and a good one to begin with. You can build on a little ell, 
No. 3. If the family needs more room and the yard is big enough, 
the house may spread out comfortably as in No. 5 where it reaches 
to the barn. 

If you happen to live in a house you ought to learn to draw it, 
especially if you like it. Perhaps you think you know all about it 
but try to draw the front from memory. You may have to run out- 
of-doors half a dozen times to see how things really are. 

How far is it between the windows? 

How does the roof slant ? 

How do steps look from the front ? 

Never mind the side of the house in this picture. Show that 
in another drawing. No. 4 is a side view of house No. 2. 

There are hundreds of ways to build houses so do not draw 
them all alike. Are the neighbors’ houses just like yours ? Draw 
the one across the street. Can you remember the one next door? 

How many kinds of roofs can you remember well enough to draw ? 
Then there are the windows—the eyes of the house; how different 
they are in different houses I Doors, too, and chimneys ! Dear me 
—what a lot there is to notice in this big world! It will take us a 
month or so to learn enough about houses to last through the winter. 

When you have drawn a house which looks like a real one, 
make it look as though people lived in it. Surely there is a large, 
busy family in house No. 5. Show in your picture a few live people. 
They ought to be able to enter the doors. Do not be satisfied with 
copying this picture. Make a careful drawing of your own house. 


66 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 


Notice how nearly all the lines of buildings are either vertical or 
horizontal, the roofs slanting so that water will lun ofi, Slant lines 
always seem to move. 


















SOMETHING TO DRAW 


67 


Trees and Bushes 

Before the trees get dressed up again for the summer we must 
notice how they grow. M is a young Rock Maple; a good one to 
begin with. 

Can you make a line like Fig. 1 on the next page, beginning at 
the bottom with a thick, dark stroke and slowly turning your 
pencil to make it thin and light at the top ? Try one, going very 
slowly. Most trees have a strong center line like this. When you 
have made a good one place your pencil close beside the base and 
start a second line following the leader all the way up to the first 
branch, then turn to the right and follow it to the tiny end, Fig. 2. 
Now begin again at the bottom and build on a third line to 
thicken the trunk and form the first big branch at the left. Build 
in the smaller branches and twigs, making them grow out of the 
big ones by starting the line well back from the branching place. 
A tree in winter looks like a very beautiful piece of fine lace 
against the sky. In summer the leaves cover it and make the top 
a big spot of green, shaped like the pattern of course. The Rock 
Maple looks something like Fig. 3 in summer. P is a Poplar as it 
looks in summer. 

A is an old Apple tree which has so many branches that you 
will get lost if you do not draw very carefully. You might lay a 
thin paper over this and trace part of it at first, just to learn how it 
goes. Then try it alone. 

Is there a tree in your yard ? Try to build a picture of it, mak¬ 
ing your pencil climb up every big branch to the very tip. Do not 
try to draw all the thousands of little twigs. It would be tiresome 
to do and tiresome to look at. When you are tired of drawing them 
it is time to stop. 

Now take a fresh sheet of paper, gray, if you have it, and draw 
the Elm tree, E, taller than a house and more graceful than any sun¬ 
shade in the world. Put the house in and be sure to keep the right 
slant to the lines of the roof. 

L is a lilac bush. Do you suppose you could draw one near the 
house, planting it at B ? T is a place for an Apple tree or some other 
shade tree and the well house is not hard to draw. Keep the lines 
straight and true. 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 







SOMETHING TO DRAW 


69 


Your Own Village 

You do not own a village? Well, get your pencil and paper 
and you will soon have one. Trace around a post-card for the frame 
line. You may make your picture the wide way or the tall way, 
just as you please. 

Several houses and trees close together make a village. On the 
next page you will see that Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are common shapes 
of which villages are made. Choose the one you like the best and 
draw it just a little below the center of the picture space, Fig. 6, 
or a little above, as in Fig. 7. If your picture is horizontal do 
the same. The best part of your picture must always be near the 
center. 

In Fig. 8 the first house was built at Point A. Then the elm 
tree began at B and grew taller than the house, hiding one 
chimney. Draw the shapes very lightly at first because a real 
picture must be planned carefully. You need not put the letters 
in, they are only to tell you the order in which this village was 
built. You see each house or tree is tucked in a little behind 
another. Some of them peep over the tops of others or around 
one corner. Just keep on building until you reach the sides of the 
frame. The last ones may slip out of the picture like G and H. 
If there is a lot of space at the top you might put in lines for hills 
or mountains. 

Now be sure you do not simply copy Fig. 8. It is much better 
to build your own village. You may want more trees or more 
houses. This page is merely to show you how to do it. If you 
make doors, windows, roofs and trees dark, the village looks more 
real. The big space marked X is the foreground. This might be 
green grass or yellow grain or brown earth or blue water, if you 
draw a line for the shore. Color it all if you like. A very little 
color in the sky and grass makes the picture more real. 

If you draw an open square in the village and all the houses 
round it, you can place a fountain in the center. The basin in 
which the fountain rests can be round,—you have learned to draw 
circles and you* must keep the basin a true circle. Figures are hard 
to do and it is just as well not to try them until you have become 
more experienced. 

Make another village some day and put in a church steeple. 


to 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 





s. 


Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 













71 


SOMETHING TO DRAW 

Pictures for You to Finish 

Yes, this is a fanny looking page, but it will be all right when 
you have done your part. Those dots with numbers are targets for 
your pencil. Place your pencil at 1, take good aim and draw a 
straight line to 2. Pick up your pencil. Place it at 3. Draw from 
3 to 4 and from 5 to 6. There is just one curved line to draw, 7 is the 
bottom of a circle, 8 is the top. The arrows point the way around. 
Draw from 11 to 12 and from 13 to 14. Be sure you take especially 
good aim when you have a long line to make. If you are a “ good 
shot ” you ought to have a cart when you get through. 

How many different kinds of carts do you know when you see 
them ? Look through the magazines and the newspapers and cut 
out all the carts and wagons which you find there. Now make a 
little scrap-book, pasting a different cart on each page. Have you 
ever thought of why there are so many different kinds of carts? 
After you have made your scrap-book, see how many of these carts 
you can draw, using heavy straight lines like the ones in the picture 
on the next page. 

Now try one on your own paper, without the dots, but make the 
lines in the same order. It is a good way to draw any cart or 
wagon. 

Fig. A is another unfinished picture in which you are to build 
two people. After doing this one in the book add some people to 
the cart you made on paper. They need not be just like these. 
Make them run faster or just walk. If you have room put in more 
people. 

There are the heads of four people in Fig. B. Draw one like it 
on gray paper. Put snow on the ground with white chalk or crayon. 
Use those four vertical lines for the trunks of dark green pine trees 
if you want a country picture. Use them for the sides of houses if 
you want it to be a city hill. This ought to make a good picture to 
put in your book. If your paper is not well filled cut it down 
to fit the picture or carefully draw a frame around it to shut out 
big empty spaces. Dress the people in bright colored caps and coats 
for winter. 

You can entertain your small brothers and sisters by making 
dots on which they can build simple pictures. Try it some stormy 
day. 


72 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 









SOMETHING TO DRAW 


73 


With a Double Pencil 

In Spring there are such freakish kinds of weather that you feel 
like doing something “ altogether different/’ no matter what it is. 
Try this : 

Take two lead pencils in one hand. Keep them pointing in the 
same direction all the time, and “ loop the loop ” with them, on a 
piece of paper. Look at what you have made. It is quite like 
a napkin ring or a steam roller wheel. By adding two lines and 
erasing tiny bits of the back curve you can make a fine ring, Fig. 2 
on the page following. Turn the picture to the left and see if it 
does not make a very good drawing of a pan or a round dish. You 
can make one like this if you point your two pencils to the left and 
keep them that way while you swing an ellipse. You will be aston¬ 
ished to find how many things you can make. 

Start up hill for Fig. 3 and instead of making a loop, swing off 
gracefully to one side until the lines come together. Not bad for a 
blade of grass! Try to draw one carefully, Fig. 4, using only one 
pencil, but remember that the two sides of the grass blade do very 
much the same thing, only one swings in behind the other at the 
turning point. Try a dozen, turning them in different directions. 
Make one line darker than the other and it will do for the nearer 
edge of the grass. 

Make a big double question mark and finish it off for a flat 
handle, Fig. 5. Did you ever see one like this on a tin cup? Try 
one turned to the left. Get a tin cup and draw it with the handle on 
the front. Of course when you draw carefully you will have to work 
with one pencil, but you will draw better if you remember that both 
lines do the same thing. This practice will give you a free-hand 
movement that is necessary to any one who wishes to draw. It will 
also teach you to keep the lines uniform in size or width. 

Hold the two pencils horizontally and make a ribbon or pennant 
waving in the breeze, Fig. 6. Be careful now which lines you erase 
and where you put the straight lines in. The stripes of a flag move 
in folds like this when a breeze catches it. 

You can probably think of a dozen things to make in which two 
edges are parallel, as in the ribbon. Try this double pencil trick on 
them. 


4 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 


CURVES SIDE BY SIDE AND WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THEM 
















SOMETHING TO DRAW 


75 


The Story of the Three Bears 

Read from your Reader or Story Book the Story of the Three 
Bears. There are many pictures in this story. Choose a few which 
will tell the whole of it. Here are some suggestions :— 

Picture of the house where the Three Bears lived, with Goldilocks 
peeping in at the window. 

Picture of the dining-room with the three bowls of soup cooling. 

Picture of the living-room with the three chairs; a “ Sairey 
Gamp ” Chair for the Big Bear, a rocking-chair for the Little Bear, 
and a beautiful parlor chair for the Middle-sized Bear. 

Picture of the bedroom with the three beds, the Three Bears, and 
Goldilocks. 

If you think real carefully, close your eyes, you will see many 
objects in these pictures which are like oblong boxes; the table, the 
chairs, and the beds. Draw a picture of an oblong box placed 
straight in front of you, showing the top. See if you can add a few 
lines and turn it into a table, a chair, or a bedstead. Look at the 
illustrations on the following page, and they will help you. The 
dotted lines stand for the oblong box in every case—and the heavy 
lines for the object. 

Now for our pictures. This will help you with one, the dining¬ 
room. Choose a piece of 8" x 11" gray manila paper, place it with 
the long edges horizontal. Sketch lightly an oblong box 2" x 4" 
with its long side horizontal. Place on this, by making a few slant 
strokes at the corners, a fresh, crisp table-cloth. Find the center at 
the lower edge and add a support for the table. Place on the table 
the three bowls. Add a window, plate rail, tile floor. When care¬ 
fully drawn, use your colored crayon and lightly fill in blue in the 
tile and bowls, and the brown woodwork and table. 

In the same way and using the drawings on the next page, do the 
other pictures. Could you make a picture of the house in the same 
way, using the oblong box ? 

No doubt you can select stories from your books,—and verses 
from Mother Goose,—to make pictures for. If you cannot draw 
pictures for your stories without a copy look through your books 
until you find what you need. You will find pictures of tables, 
chairs, flowers, birds and children. You can draw the objects in 
such a way and in such a group to make the picture complete. 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



THIS WILL ASSIST YOU IN TELLING THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS 






































SOMETHING TO DRAW 


77 



After all, the best fun comes from making your own fun. Make 
some funny drawings yourself. Here are three bears to help you 
begin. See what funny things you can make them do. 
































78 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Roosters for Place Cards 

Roosters are just as good as turkeys ! They may be drawn on 
place cards, or they may be drawn on a card and cut out as indi¬ 
cated by the odd little sketch at the lower-right corner of the plate. 
The lower part of the card is left long so as to fold back to make a 
support. The rooster is cut out so that he will really roost! Of 
course, turkey cards of this kind could be made. The bird might 
be colored—bright red or bright green or bright purple, with gold 
eyes. 











SOMETHING TO DRAW 


79 


Place Cards for Thanksgiving 

Thanksgiving is really a harvest festival; a time when we give 
thanks for good crops safely gathered. So the horn of plenty with 
Autumn fruits pouring from it will make a good place card—to 
illustrate “ For peace and plenty do we give Thee thanks to-day.” 
“ Seed time and harvest shall not cease,” says the corn shock. The 
apple, according to the old legend, was the fruit of eternal youth. 
Eat it, then, “ with thankfulness.” “ What moistens the lip and 
what brightens the eye, What calls back the past like the rich 
pumpkin pie ? ” “ Gold of the Harvest field, riches of the farmer, 

lie in the heart of the yellow ears of corn.” The nuts, so tempting 
to the unwelcome worm, might be labeled “ Be ye thankful for what 
you’ve got. Also be thankful for what you’ve not.” “ Truly in me 
is the perfume of the Summer, and the rich blood of the Autumn.” 
And the turkey announces that “ The eagle maybe the National 
Bird on 364 days of the year, but on Thanksgiving, i’m that bird.” 

Now, if you can get the real things to draw from, you may 
use them for models, to get both form and color right. If you can’t 
get the real things, find pictures to show the forms of them and 
you may be able to remember the color well enough. Study the 
pictures to see how to use them for place cards ; and to see how 
to place fruits to make a group; and how to cut a fruit form from 
folded paper, that you may write or letter your quotation on the 
inside of it. In particular, notice that each ball for fruit or nut 
on the place card is drawn entirely and the parts which are hidden 
by the nearest one are afterward erased. Notice that the further 
away they seem to be the smaller they look, and the lighter the line 
used in drawing them. 

Attractive place cards may be made from birch bark and a set of 
such cards are appropriate when the Thanksgiving dinner is to be 
in the country. 

Cut your pieces of birch bark in pieces about two inches long and 
about three and one-half inches wide. On the side of card you can 
draw with a pen,—any design that you prefer. The name can be 
put in with color if you have a fine brush and some paints. 

You could use vegetables for a design ; on one card draw a pump¬ 
kin, on another a leaf of celery, on another an apple and on others, 
nuts, or even a picture of a knife and fork crossed. 


80 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Pictures from Advertisements 
Here are two funny pictures to show you how to make pictures 
for a scrap-book. 

1. Cut out all the pictures you can find in the advertisements 
in a newspaper or magazine. 

2. Spread the pictures on the table so that you can see them 
all at once. 

3. Think how one might be joined to another to make a funny 
picture. Try them all different ways. 

4. When you get a good one hunt through the newspaper or 
magazine for a heading that will make a good name for the picture. 

5. Paste all the parts together neatly on a card. 

The upper picture on the opposite page was made from three 
pictures, the man reading was one, the dressed-up bunny was two, 
and the Globe man was three. The words “ No baggage ” tell you 
what some men think about a man who would spend his time read¬ 
ing and patting pets ! 

The lower picture was made from two pictures. The typewriter 
in one was cut out, and the nose of the horse put in its place. 

A Peaceful War Eagle 

By folding a sheet of paper the two sides of the American Eagle 
may be cut at the same time, from half the plan. 








SOMETHING TO DRAW 


81 















82 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



A Book-Mark 

A Santa Claus book-mark is a good 
little Christmas gift to give to some one 
who reads. Trace carefully the picture 
of it here, or if you are a little artist draw 
it all by yourself, being sure to measure 
the chimney to get it straight. You 
would better use rather stiff white paper 
for your book-mark. When you have 
drawn the front view fold the paper on 
the line AB and cut the outline. Now 
draw on the back (the part that is wrong 
side up in the picture), unfold, and begin 
the coloring with water color or colored 
pencil. If you use water color don’t get 
the paint on too thick or it will look 
muddy. If you use crayon don’t bear 
on hard. It looks ever and ever so 
much better if it is done lightly. Santa’s 
hat and coat must be red trimmed with 
white fur, his mittens white and his beard 
white. His pack would look well dark 
green. The chimney should be red. If 
you can do it neatly (it is very hard) 
leave the spaces between the bricks white. 
After the book-mark is dry cut along the 
dotted line, being sure not to cut off poor 
Santa’s head. This is so that his beard 
will slip over the page and keep the book¬ 
mark in place. Now fold over the back, 
on AB, and paste the lower courses of 
bricks on the chimney head neatly to¬ 
gether. Write the name of }mur friend 
and your own on the back. Some 
one will be very much pleased with 
this if you make it carefully and color 
it well. 





























































MAKING ANIMATED PICTURES 


83 


Making Animated Pictures 


Get your sheets of paper 6x9 and your manila envelope to 
keep them in. Have your pencil sharp for drawing, but it should 
be soft. Follow the directions carefully. We will not speak of an 
eraser because you are going to draw the figures right the first time. 
If you work in a painstaking way the lessons will help you. 

Fun with Chairmen and Other Folks 

Draw three little chairs, A tipping forward, B tipping backward 
and C standing still, as a chair should. All the lines of A and B 
slant, so these chairs look as though they were moving, B. G keeps 
quiet because its lines are vertical and horizontal. 

These three chairs may be made with people by just adding head 
and arms and part of one leg. Try it with A first, using k and k for 
knee joints. Jack could walk with legs straight, but when he runs 
his knees must bend. The dotted lines in D show a few of the differ¬ 
ent bends of the knees in running. E shows what the elbows, E 
and E, might be doing. The elbow and knee joints are much alike, 
only they bend in opposite directions. 

Now you will find that with hip, shoulder, knee and elbow joints 
Jack is a regular whirligig and making pictures of him in all his 
antics will keep a lead pencil busy for hours. 

The second chair, B , will dance or kick when you finish it. You 
cannot always tell before you change a line just what this Jumping 
Jack is going to do, but that is half the fun and just like a real boy. 

C will help you to make a picture of Jack down on one knee, put¬ 
ting on his skates, polishing or tying his shoes, or helping the baby 
to take a few steps for the first time. He might get down on both 
knees, but don’t get mixed up with so many slanting lines. If you 
should want one of these figures to be a girl, why just put skirts on 
and call her Jill. A live girl can do all of these things, of course. 

Now get another piece of paper and make a picture with a lot 
of people in it, like the one on the following page, where they are 
planting a tree. Give them a few tools and put them close together 
so that they do not seem afraid of each other. You can probably 
make quite a crowd of busy people if you do not draw them too large. 



84 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves, 



MAKING ANIMATED PICTURES 


85 


A Thanksgiving Picture with Lines Only 

If you are asked to really set the table for dinner you begin right 
away to put things on, but if you make a dinner picture you have 
to build the table before you can set it. A table is not very difficult 
to draw. 

Take a good look at your own dining table. Perhaps you can 
sit in the dining-room while you draw this, then you will not need 
to simply copy the picture shown on the next page. Near the 
middle of your paper draw a horizontal line, Fig. 1, for the top 
of the table. This must not slant a bit or the dishes might slide 
off or tip over. Make the legs just long enough to reach to the 
floor, Fig. 2. Some dining tables have one big leg in the center like 
Fig. 3. Which kind is yours? 

We have drawn chairs before, but always a side view. Now 
step around in front of a chair. Are the long back lines both 
vertical like Fig. 4 or do they slant like Fig. 7 ? You see we 
may want to draw some one sitting at the other side of the 
table looking at us, and we must get the chair ready. Learn to 
draw the chair alone and then make it look behind the table, 
Fig. 8. 

When one thing is behind another, part of it or all of it is 
hidden. If all of it is hidden you need not draw it, but if any 
of it shows you must think very carefully about the hidden parts 
or you will make foolish mistakes in your picture. It is a good 
plan to draw everything lightly and then erase the lines that go 
behind something else. In Fig. 8 part of the chair back is erased 
to make the table seem in front of the chair. That is a useful thing 
to learn when drawing a picture. 

Now if your table is ready place chairs for the people and put 
on the dishes. In the lower drawing there are three people. If 
you want more make the table longer and put more chairs. The 
baby’s chair has very long legs because the baby is so short. 
Finish drawing the window and door. Notice the line which 
shows where the wall meets the floor. It goes behind the chairs, 
people and everything. It is the last line to draw. 

Could you draw another window right back of the woman’s 
head? Would the plant show if it were placed on the window 
sill? 


8G 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 
A PICTURE MADE FROM LINES 
















MAKING ANIMATED PICTURES 


87 


Horses and What They Haul 

Some loads are much too large and heavy for a man to move 
even with a wheelbarrow, so his big, strong friend, the horse, helps 
him with his work. 

Do you know how to draw a horse? One way is to make three 
sides of a square, Fig. 1. Be sure that the sides are as long as the 
top or even a bit longer. Measure with the end of your pencil or a 
bit of paper. If your horse is not tall enough he will look like a 
dog. Draw a line for the top of his neck nearly as long as his back, 
Fig. 2, making it slant the way you want his neck to go. If he is 
frightened he puts his head up. If a small boy gives him an apple, 
Fig. 3, he will put his head down to get it. Fig. 2 shows how he 
usually holds his head. A few lines will tell the thickness of his 
neck and body as in Fig. 3. 

Do you know how to harness a horse? Watch somebody do it 
if you can and learn what each strap and buckle is for. Around his 
neck, close to his shoulders, is the collar. Just back of his shoulder 
is a big piece called the saddle, and the breeching keeps the load 
from pushing against the horse when he goes down hill. Ask some¬ 
body who knows, so that in your pictures of a horse you can harness 
him to any kind of a wagon or carriage. When you make a good 
picture you have to know just how things are really done. 

In Boston you would see many tip carts like Fig. 4 used by the 
men who work on the city streets. Build one and harness a horse 
to it. All the city carts are colored blue. 

Fig. 5 is a careful drawing of a horse’s head and Fig. 6 might 
help you to make his foot. Try harnessing a horse to a wagon, 
sleigh, hack, truck and any other vehicle which you may know. 
Put the big basket, Fig. 9, on wheels and you will have a New Eng¬ 
land hay-rack. Do the farmers use this kind where you live? 

Did you ever see wheels when they looked like Fig. 7 ? Look 
at the back of a wagon as it goes away from you. Put the box, Fig. 
10, on the wheels, Fig. 7, and see if it looks like anything you ever 
saw. Did you ever see a pie wagon? Try box, Fig. 11, on wheels. 

What would Fig. 12 be on wheels? It is the back view of some¬ 
thing. Put a man on the seat. Fig. 13 is the interesting end of an 
ice wagon. 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 





























MAKING ANIMATED PICTURES 


89 


Real People 

Draw a straight, vertical line like Fig. 1 on the page following. 
This is the u back bone ” of the very simplest kind of a chair. It is 
a good plan to find one long line like this to begin with in making 
a picture, just as a man who builds things of wood cuts out the big¬ 
gest pieces first. Next draw the seat very carefully, Fig. 2, and then 
add the other lines as the pictures show. Fig. 3 is the finished chair 
with a man in it. See how well the chair fits him. That is what 
the chair was made for. 

Perhaps the chairs in your house are not just like this. There 
are many different kinds. Draw one of your own dining-room or 
kitchen chairs, making the longest line first. Is the seat perfectly 
horizontal or level? Is the “back bone ” straight? 

Did you ever see such stiff looking people as those in the second 
row? They are alive, of course, but they are keeping perfectly still 
just a minute, while you look at them very carefully. You will 
have to excuse Fig. 3 for moving. He could not wait to get a bite 
of something he has in that plate. Notice that all the feet are in a 
straight line, but the heads are not. Why are some heads lower 
than others ? Which part of a man is taken away from his height 
when he sits in a chair? Point to the line which changes. 

Now draw these people as they are in the third row, all alive. 
Make the lines very light so that you can dress them up afterward. 
Give them names and show by their clothes which are men and 
which are women. Put more people in. Make these people change 
places. Perhaps the woman would like to help the baby to walk. 

Dress the people in the lower row. Fred was very thin at first, 
but two or three thick pencil marks made his coat and trousers. 
Seven broad pencil strokes made Jane’s skirt. Surely this is easier 
than sewing! Do fatten Paul up a bit and put a dress on Bess. 
Which is the thickest part of a boy? Where does a girlZoofc the 
widest? Give Bess a Dutch cut like Jane’s, or fix her hair any way 
you please, only make it come down over the side of her head, as it 
should. 

Can you make Jack do tricks? Make his tail point a differ¬ 
ent way. He can do anything a real dog can, if you will only 
help him. 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 




YOU CAN DRESS THESE PEOPLE WITH COLORED CRAYON 

Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves < 














FIGURE DRAWING 


91 


The Garden Girl and the Garden Boy- 
Before they are ready to go out planting, they need a very delicate 
tone of orange-pink over faces, necks, arms, and legs. The little girl’s 
hair might be light brown or orange-yellow. The hats also should be 
orange-yellow straw. The hat bands may be colored any bright dark 
tone. The overalls may be brown. Why not color the apron light 
green-blue or blue-green ? Curve the watering pot around the finger. 
Paste the left end under the opposite edge at dotted line. Bend the 



nose outward. Curve the handle over and draw end through little 
slit on opposite side. Bend upward to hold firmly. 

What shall we name the Garden Boy and Girl ? 




















92 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



PATTERNS FOR THE GARDEN CHILDREN’S CLOTHES 







































93 


A STUDY OF CURVES 

The Two Birds 

Did any one ever show you the 2 which some birds make with 
their necks and backs? It is quite a help in drawing them. Run 
your pencil over the big 2 marked A on the next page. Do it several 
times, just as you would stroke the neck and back of a big swan if he 
would let you. Do you get the swing of it? Try several on some 
practice paper. Curves are hard to learn, but you can do it. 

Choose the best one you have made and place your pencil at the 
point marked C. Draw the front of a swan’s neck, swinging down 
past the point A. It will help if you follow this line in Figure S 
until you can feel the way it goes. Learn the shape of his bill and 
put his eye in the right place. By putting him in the water you 
avoid drawing his feet I He likes the water best anyway. 

Figure B is a short necked 2 with a long tail. This is the way 
to begin a duck. Practice it first and then make the breast line. 
Notice how the two lines of the neck swing together. When you 
have learned the duck and swan in these two common positions you 
can change the 2 and make them do different things. The three 
ducks at the bottom of the page are all tipped at different angles. 
Make some other ones. If you can make a 2 backwards of course 
you can make a duck going the other way. Look at a goose if you 
have a chance and see if you find a 2. Water birds are more likely 
to need long necks than those that live on land. 

If you have a blackboard you might try some large white swans 
with chalk. Watch a real swan and draw him in different positions. 
He can do wonderful things with that long neck of his. 

Try a picture of him when he is coming toward you. You will 
not see the 2. Where will his tail be? Can you imagine how he 
will look ? 

There are many wonderful things to see in nature and when you 
have begun to study lines and form you will find that no minute is 
dull so long as you can use your eyes. 

Have you ever noticed how a robin puts his head forward when 
he is catching a worm ? His neck is not so long but he uses it very 
much like the swan. And have you noticed how a snake raises his 
head and thrusts it forward ? He does it with a movement like a bird. 
Perhaps that is why it has been said that the bird and the snake 
family come from the same origin,—out of the long, long ago. 


94 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 










MAKING ANIMATED PICTURES 95 

Fish Lines 

Did you ever catch a fish ? Probably you caught it with a hook 
which killed the fish. Did you ever catch one with a lead pencil ? 
You do not need bait, but you must have a sharp eye and steady 
hand. 

Get a good big piece of paper and swing off a long, graceful 
curve like Figure 1 on the following page. The curve must be 
drawn with a free hand. 

Now the curve in Figure 2 is not graceful because it breaks at 2. 
A fish can bend in a hundred ways without breaking. Line 3 is 
very far from graceful ; it was made too slowly and wabbles along 
like the tops of mountains, as though it did not know which way 
to go. Do not try to patch up a bad line. Try another and another 
until you get one that has a fine swing to it. When lines are curved 
you can seldom go over them without making a rough uneven figure. 
In drawing as well as in other work practice alone can give perfection. 
Make each line better than the one before it. 

Collect all the pictures and drawings of every kind of fish that 
you can find. Some of them will be good enough to copy with bold 
sweeping lines like the ones on the next page. Perhaps you would 
like to make a little scrap-book just for your pet fishes. It is great 
fun to have a big book that you have made all yourself. When you 
can make a curve with a strong swinging movement it will be grace¬ 
ful enough for the back line of a fish. 

Figure 4 is a Blue Fish, a big, strong fellow. He looks solemn 
because his mouth turns down. His eye is perfectly round and 
never shuts. He has no eyelids or eyelashes ! When you draw you 
must notice these strange things. You may like to read about him 
in the encyclopaedia. 

The line of his back is the long one to catch first. The sides or 
under lines of his body follow this. He can follow almost any double 
curve you can draw. Watch live fish in a bowl or tank if you get a 
chance. Goldfish are beautiful, not only in color, but in every move¬ 
ment they make. 

When he looks right at you Mr. Fish is not as handsome as in a 
side view, in fact he would be quite frightful if he were very large, 
like a shark. But it is no use for a little fish to look so fierce. He 
only makes us laugh. 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 



















WHAT LINES CAN DO 


97 


Sleds and Other Things 

You remember, of course, that everything except a ball looks 
different every time it changes position. If the wheel of the cart 
C on the following page should fall off it would look like an ellipse 
E lying flat on the ground. 

Now something quite as remarkable happens to the rectangle 
R when it lies down. Take a postal card or some other rectangle 
and stand it up on your hand. Hold it out in front of you as far 
as you can reach and watch it tip back until it lies flat. Draw it 
the way it looks. Do you get anything in the outline of the card 
that looks like Fig. 1 ? 

If this is really a good picture of a rectangle lying flat then it 
ought to help to make the tops of boxes, tables, stoves, sleds, *carts, 
stools, etc., look as if they were level, and that is the way that they 
should be. 

Try it on a sled. Draw the new shape, Figure 1. Now put the 
front runner on, Fig. 2. F is the near edge of the rectangle and 
B is the back edge. Have you ever noticed that things seem to 
grow smaller as they get farther away ? The line B not only 
shrinks quite a lot, but pulls the little end lines in so that they 
surely would run into each other if they kept on. Since B is 
shorter than F the back runner is also shorter than the front. Now 
does your sled look as though you could sit on it without falling 
off? Then it must look level and we have discovered a very useful 
trick. 

Try this kind of a top on our old friend the cart. Put the little 
verticals in to show how far from your point of view you can see 
down into the body of the cart. 

Now draw the shape again. At the bottom of the next page is the 
picture of an egg box, about half finished. Can you finish it and 
put in a dozen fresh eggs ? If you put a cover on be sure you leave 
it open so that we can see the eggs. Each one must have a little 
place all to itself or there will be trouble. Every time you draw 
a line ask yourself whether or not it looks just as it is or is it pre¬ 
tending to be short or turned around? The line 00 is doing a 
wonderful thing. Draw it and think about it, a long horizontal 
line looking like one standing up ! Aren’t you surprised ? 


98 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Drawings by Helen E. Cleaves. 




















CHEERFUL LINES 


99 


A Glad Aster Badge 

Don’t you think fall asters are cheerful things? They wait 
until the days begin to get gray and cold before they blossom. 
If you want to see how happy they can make people, pick a great 
big bunch some Sunday and carry them to some one who is old or 
sick and can’t get out. When anything cheerful comes into a house 
everybody brightens up. 

Just to remind you to be cheerful you might make a little “ glad 
aster” badge and wear it or keep it where you can see it often. 

To make the badge you will need some white paper, some light 
purple paper, some yellow paper, with scissors and some paste. If 
you have no colored paper you can color the aster with crayons. 

First, with a compass or something round make two circles about 
an inch and a quarter in diameter, connected with a little strip as 
shown in the picture, Fig. 1, next page. Fold in the middle of the 
strip so that the two circles come exactly together. Turn it so that 
the hinge comes at the top. Cut eight strips of the purple paper 
about half as wide as the strip that joins the circles and as long as 
across the circle plus the whole length of the hinge. Paste the first 
strip across the center of the round cover so that one end covers the 
middle of the little hinges as far as the fold in the middle, and the 
other end sticks out over the opposite edge of the circle. Put the 
second purple strip so as to make a cross. Place the next two so the 
ends will be in the middle of the spaces left. Then you have eight 
gaps left. These can be filled up with four strips because each strip 
has two ends. Let the strips stick over the edge the same amount 
all around. Don’t use too much paste. Then paste a round yellow 
center in the middle of your little purple strips and you have an 
aster, Fig. 2. 

Now open the badge as shown in Fig. 3, and print inside, “ Serve 
the Lord with gladness.” Do you know where that comes from? 
It means that when you do things that are good and mind your 
mother when she speaks to you, you must do so gladly. 

With a pin you can fasten the under part of the badge to your 
dress or coat. The aster will fold down over it and hide the motto. 
Everybody will see the sunny aster and like it. 

You might make several of these Glad Aster badges, and give 
them to friends of yours. 


100 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Beautiful October 

A haze on the far horizon, 

The infinite tender sky ; 

The rich, ripe tufts of the cornfields, 

And the wild geese circling high, 

And all over upland and lowland 
The charm of the goldenrod, 

Some of us call it autumn 
And others call it—God. 

— William H. Carruth. 



I wonder if you are one of those who call it God,—this beautiful 
autumn weather? Think about that. Think about the other 
things, too. Have you noticed a “ haze on the far horizon ” this 
fall? Have you ever seen the sky look “ infinite” or “tender”? 
How many flocks of wild geese have you seen ? Perhaps all these 
are “right before your eyes,” but they are good things to look 
for on your Sunday walk. See if you can’t bring some of the 
“charm of the goldenrod ” into your own house. Everybody will be 
happier. 





HAVE YOUR OWN PICTURE GALLERY 101 

Learn About Good Pictures 

What would you think of a child who did not care to know one 
tree from another or one flower from another? Or, perhaps, one 
friend from another ? 

There are pictures that every one is supposed to know. It is 
easy to secure prints of the most famous paintings and by pasting 
them in a book, you will fix them in your memory, and from the 
study of them you will learn to appreciate the best, and you will 
hold only the best in your mind. 

The other side of this leaf will give the names of some of these 
pictures and of the artists who painted them. You can always buy 
them in a cheap form and have them for your own. 

Get these pictures and arrange them in a similar group. You 
can paste them on paper and make a book. 

Why not start a little picture gallery of your own ? You will 
get lots of fun out of it now, and when you are grown up you will 
be glad that you know so much about good pictures, for you may 
some time see the originals. 

One of the pictures mentioned on the following page is the most 
famous picture in the world. Do you know which it is ? Who 
painted it? And where it is? And do you know what makes it so 
famous ? 

Another of the pictures on the next page is probably hung in 
more grammar school rooms and in more Sunday-school rooms in 
the United States than any other picture ever painted. Do you 
know which that is? And who painted it? And can you tell the 
meaning of the picture? 

When you have before you a really good picture and one that 
contains a good many figures, take pencil and paper and then set 
down the number of things that you see. Take, for instance, the 
picture called “The Horse Fair.” It was painted by Rosa Bonheur 
when she was 77 years old. Check off the things you see in the 
picture. Set them down like this Two white horses rearing. A 
big black horse on his hind legs. A horse with a blanket for a 
saddle. Three horses each with his tail tied in a knot. A man 
running. Two men holding one horse. The distant dome of a big 
building. A row of trees, etc. You can do this with pictures and 
it will teach you to see. 


102 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


CHiLDPxri with a 

- GARLAND - 


CHRIST Iff THE. 
TEMPLE 


RUBENS 


HOFFMAN 


V 



THE 

<5ISTIND 

MADONNA 

RAPHAEL 



FEEDING HER 
- BIRDS - 






MILLET 








A 

--4 


JESUS BLESSinS 
LITTLE CHOREA 

RUOCKNORST 



BABY STUART 
-YAH DYCK.* 




/ 



Ju 


SUGGESTIONS FOE GEOTJPS 


























PICTURES TO COLOR 


103 


Pictures to Color 


Geraldine and Her Paper Dolls 

The little girl, Geraldine, in the picture on the following page is 
cutting out rows of paper dolls holding hands like those shown at 
the bottom of this page. 

In coloring a picture start at the top and work toward the bottom 
—then your hand won’t drag through some part that you have 
already painted. Paint the panel back of the toy dresser and that 
part of the window seat upon which the toys are resting—a warm 
cream color. When it dries, mix a faint purple by putting a little 
red and blue together, add just a little yellow to it and paint the 
window frames and that part of the window seat containing the 
drawers. Use tan color for the little girl’s hair and shoes and the toy 
furniture. Use a very light red for the little girl’s face, arms and 
hands. Paint the window panes a clear sky blue and put a touch of 
the same blue on the mirror of the toy dresser. Then take some blue 
and tone it down a little with a touch of red and of yellow and paint 
the little girl’s dress. Use a deep shade of tan for the floor. Care¬ 
fully paint it around the paper dolls and scraps of paper lying on 
the floor. When it is dry use two or three of the brightest colors 
you can find in your box and paint the paper dolls on the floor and 
also those at the bottom of this page. 





104 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 





*cr< 

^^7 


GERALDINE ADDING BOYS AND GIRLS TO HER ALREADY LARGE FAMILY 


IL IL iT| 






















































































PICTURES TO COLOR 


105 


Going Like the Wind 

Color the whole sky bright blue. Make the footprints a very 
light blue. Make the sled dull yellow. Color the children as you 
please, except for the caps. These should be left white. 



Polly Want a Cracker? 

Make the picture on the next page in greens : Blue-green for the 
background and floor ; green for the bird ; yellow-green for the dress 
and socks. Leave the collar and hair ribbon white. Make the hair 
and the stool and the stand for the bird dull yellow. A delicate 
pink may be used for the flesh and a bright red may be added to the 
throat of the parrot. Leave the crackers white or make them a 
delicate cream color. 

Another good way to go at it is to find a real parrot to look at 
and to color the parrot in the picture as near like the real bird as 
possible. Now dull all the colors you used in the parrot (by adding 





106 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



black) and use them for the other things in the picture. Paint the 
background solid black. Of course you will have to have the girl’s 
flesh painted flesh color. 

There is much to learn about the arrangement of color in a 
picture; it is the study of composition. If green appears in the 
parrot’s wing there should be touches of green in another part of the 
picture. It gives a “ balance ” of color. If the object in the girl’s 
hand is a red apple, put a bit of the same color in her hair ribbon. 
A certain “ tone ” runs through every good picture. 


























PICTURES TO COLOR 


107 



Look out of your window and see how March looks. Think how 
rabbits look and shut your eyes and see how a fairy looks. Do you 
know the colors of mushrooms and of the first spring flowers? 
Color this to make it look as much like early spring as you can. 
Have it so beautiful that everybody who sees it will say, “ Isn’t it 
pretty ? ” 













108 SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



AN OUTLINE DRAWING TO COLOR YOUR OWN WAY 




























































PICTURES TO COLOR 


109 



What Happened to the Boy Who Threw Stones 

Wliat a fine chance to use bright colors! See the funny little 
wings, caps, and jackets. Make your picture look like a bright 
spring day. Begin with the lightest color in the sky ; put on the 
darkest and strongest colors last of all. Use the very brightest colors 
in the little creatures. 

If the sky is colored blue, repeat the color in some of the wings 
of the little sprites. 




110 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 










PICTURES TO COLOR 


111 


We will use only these color names: red, yellow, green, blue, 
purple, white, gray, black. Then we will say light red when we 
want to paint a face; and middle red when we want to paint a slice 
of tomato; and darlc red when we want to paint a slice of beet; 
bright red for a currant, and dull red for the outside of a beet. We 
will use only such terms, so that we may understand one another. 

Your eye will become trained by studying the various shades of 
color in a picture. 


Tom Tinker’s Dog 


It is summer now, and 
you will want to make 
outdoor sketches. Here 
is a landscape to try. 
The idea is to have two 
white figures, the boy 
and the dog, framed in 
greens and blues. Paint 
the boy’s hair dull yellow, 
and his face, arms, and 
legs with a color you 
have mixed from red and 
yellow with a very little 
blue, using a great deal 
of water. His suit, shoes, 
and socks are white. The 
dog, whose name is Ted¬ 
dy, is white also. He has 
a little stripe of dull yel¬ 
low between the eye and 
ear and wears a leather 
collar. Now we will 
paint the landscape, be¬ 
ginning with the top of 
the blue sky. When 
near the mountains paint with a wet brush but use no color. The sky 
must be quite dry before the mountains are painted. 



Bow, wow, wow, whose dog art thou ? 
Little Tom Tinker’s dog. Bow, wow, wow. 














112 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 
Children in Far Japan 

Color this as you 
please. A Japanese 
print might help you. 

Make the smallest 
things, the real flowers, 
brightest. Make the 
dress pattern in mid¬ 
dle colors. Make the 
background lightest. 

The Frog Prince 
We must paint the 
frog prince green and 
the ball bright yellow. 

It was the golden ball, 
you will remember, 
which the princess lost 
in the forest pool. I 
am sure she had yellow 
curls and I think her 
golden crown was fast¬ 
ened to a cap of blue 
velvet. Her gown of 
dark yellow was em¬ 
broidered with light yellow flowers and the sleeves caught with gold 
bands and blue jewels. 

In the rest of the picture we will plan to keep the colors soft and 
gray to make a pretty setting for our gay little princess. On a warm 
afternoon we often see low in the sky a light yellow. Against the 
sky are the light roofs of the old white castle. Do not get them too 
bright for they are far away. Mix a little purple in the green for 
the pointed trees. Paint the twisted tree a gray made from yellow 
and green with a little red. Against the light gray wall huddles a 
row of little white flowers. The grass about the princess is green 
with a touch of red. The rocks by the pool are the same with more 
red. The flowers by the pool are white with green leaves. Keep 
your colors very clear and light in tone. 



A LITTLE BROTHER AND SISTER IN THE 
SUNRISE KINGDOM 


































PICTURES TO COLOR 


113 



AN ILLUSTRATION FOR THE STORY OF THE FROG PRINCE 












































114 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


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THE ANGORAS 


Olive’s angoras have just the colors of a loaf of new white bread ! 
Olive’s dress is light yellow. Her hair ribbon and stockings are 
white. Her shoes are tan shoes. Her play room is done in very 
soft pale greens. 






















PICTURES TO COLOR 


115 



ll_ 0- iTJ 

























































116 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


The Pussy-Willow Pussies 

Do look at these charming pen drawings. Did you ever see such 
fuzzy little kittens? Did you ever see such a jolly bit of odd and 
amusing elf-manity as this little sprite? In the next picture he is 



rubbing the fur the wrong way, to wake up the pussies. In the second 
they are all very much awake. And in this one Spring has come. 

Do manage somehow to get hold of a pussy-willow twig with its 
little Maltese pussies, each coming out from beneath the brown shell 
where it hid all winter. Put the twig in water in your room and 
watch it. You will see the kittens’ fur coming on end ; and see that 
when they jump they “ leave their tails behind them." Perhaps if you 
can go out into the countryside to get the pussy-willow twigs your¬ 
self, you will see, if you go in the middle of the day, something bob¬ 
bing about with pretty wings, and long feelers growing out of his head, 
almost as lovely as Jillikin ,—for that is the name of this fairy. He is 
cousin to Billikin. Do you remember Billikin ? Florence Pretz, who 
drew Jillikin, modeled Billikin. Florence Pretz is now Mrs. Smalley, 
and she has a little fairy of her own in her home in California. 








PICTURES TO COLOR 


117 























118 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Fairies are hard to catch! You would better draw the square 
first and then rule light lines upon the picture and upon your square, 
making a net in which to hold her fast. The net will help you to 
locate the graceful curves. 

The net will also help you to place the fairy in the center of 
the square. You will see that the balance is just right. The 
figure must not tip but be lightly poised as if she were about to move 
lightly forward. 

Study this picture and try to keep your lines clean cut and light 
so that the frail texture of the draperies and the buo 3 ^ancy of the 
figure are suggested. There should be no clumsy lines; draw the 
curved lines with one stroke of the pencil. 

All the coloring must be delicate. 













PICTURES TO COLOR 


119 


Begin on Monday or some other day daring the week. Go to 
the market or store and look carefully at all the fruits and 
vegetables that you see. Try to remember the color and shape of 



vegetables that are being made ready for table. After looking at 
them close your eyes and see if you can remember the color. 

This all helps you ; you will find that the study of color and the 
attention that you give to remembering the color of various objects 
will train your eye and make you much more observing of every¬ 
thing. You will begin to see things that you had never noticed 
before. 




/ 


120 SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



THE ELYES, WHO WEIGH NOTHING AT ALL, A-PAINTING THE LEAVES IN 

THE FALL 


tell 






PICTURES TO COLOR 


121 



0 


Do you have Chinese lilies in your home in March ? If so com¬ 
pare them with this drawing. If not look at this pen drawing and 
try to color it. 























































122 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 




A NURSERY LUNCH 


























































SOMETHING TO WHITE ABOUT 


123 


Something to Write About 



In the year 1893 or thereabouts a little girl first opened her blue 
eyes and her little pink mouth one day in September and this is her 
picture. The people in the village where her father and mother 
lived came to see her and to them she was very wonderful because 
she was a white baby and if by any chance she happened to smile at 
one of them they were very happy and thought to be very lucky. 
So they called this baby “ Ah-poo-mik-a-ninny ” which in their 
language meant “ Snowbaby.” Can you guess who she was and 
where she lived ? She had another name, too, and that was 
“ Ahinghito ” and still another one which you must find out. I 
think this little girl is married now—and her father has had great 
honor paid him by this government—not because he was her father 
but because of the wonderful things he has done. “ Ahinghito ” 
must be very proud of him and his first name. 








124 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Some people say this is a picture of something that really hap¬ 
pened June 26, 1284, and some other people say it is a myth, while 
still others say it is a legend. Do you know what a myth or 
legend is? Anyway, it was a very sad story and made the saying 
“ Don’t forget to pay the piper ” one that was heard in many homes. 
There’s a piper in the picture here—and the children seem to like 
the music, don’t they? I guess they liked it better than their fathers 
and mothers did, for they never allow any music in the streets of 
that town now, not even a little pipe. 

An artist named Kaulbach has painted a beautiful picture about 
this and a poet named Browning has written a poem about it—so 
there will be a number of things to help you to guess what this pic¬ 
ture means. 












SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT 


125 



There seems to be a subject for gossip in this picture; some tale 
is being told from one to another. 

The Green Frog was winking and blinking one hot summer’s 
day, and, without meaning to listen, overheard what the Katydid 
told the Busy Ant. 

You can always trust the Busy Ant for finding out something 
that was going on within walking distance ! The Green Frog rather 
liked to find out things himself and when he did find out he always 
told his next door neighbor. 

That was the beginning, and that’s how I happened to hear 
about it; for the neighbor told it to the wind and the wind blew all 
over town so that soon it came to every one’s ears. It seems that 
the Katydid was going on an errand and just stopped for a little 
gossip with the little green snake that lived under the door-step and 
the Green Snake told the Katydid that the Painted Turtle told him 
that the Yellow Hen had seen Mrs. Goose starting out on what she 
called a “ wild goose chase ” and called her—a “ Tailor’s Goose.” 
And that is what started it. 

Have you heard what it was ? 






















126 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Here is a boy who was born in Boston, Mass., some time between 
1700 and 1710 and he was a boy of whom you have heard many, 
many times, I know. There are so many things that remind one 
of him—there’s a bank here in Boston named for him and a street, 
and a house, and there is something on lots of houses that he 
thought of. I wonder if you know what it is. A kite had some¬ 
thing to do with it. This boy knew a great deal about printing 
because he used to help his brother. He liked to read and he ran 
away once and he was very witty and many of his sayings are still 
to be heard. Here is one—“Time is money,” and here is another 
—“A place for everything and everything in its place.” Then when 
he was a man he said something about “ hanging ” which all the 
histories remember. Do you know who “ Poor Richard ” was and 
what he had named for him and do you know who published the 
first newspaper in America? Well, you find out who this boy is 
and then you’ll know much more than you do now, maybe. 













































SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT 


127 



V 


IS SHE SHOWING HIM EASTER EGGS I 


























































































128 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



A good story can be written about this picture but do not make 
the story cruel because the pirate’s face is not cruel nor does he look 
as if he were going to harm any one. 

I seem to hear something about pirates and lost boys and 
Treasure Island and things like that. What was it that Long 
John used to sing in “ Treasure Island ” ? Oh, yes—“ Fifteen men 
on the dead man’s chest.” Do you suppose the one in the picture 
is that kind of a chest? Anyway, it’s big enough for that little 
boy to hide in. Seems to me the pirate (he is a pirate, isn’t he ?) 
is tiding to scare the little boy, though maybe he's only fooling— 
but I don’t think the little chap is afraid, do you ? See, there isn’t 
a boat in sight, and what do you think is in that cave ? 

I’m quite excited to know what this picture means—and what 
they are—and whether the little boy’s mother and father know— 
and whether if by any chance the pirate is his father. And—what’s 
in the chest: Money ? O-oooh ! 








SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT 


129 



I wonder who this little girl is ? I've heard about little Prin¬ 
cesses who were stolen by fairies—in fact—they say that all babies 
who die the day they are born are taken back by the fairies and 
brought up by them. 

To begin, what title can you give to this picture? Do you think 
the little girl knows that the queer little men are there? 

This little girl's dress doesn't look much like fairy or princess— 
does it ? But is there anything about her that makes you think of a 
princess ? 

I wonder if those four little men are her brothers—or—maybe 
she is Bo Peep and they are some of her lambs that she couldn’t 
find. And what a funny house—it looks like a tree to me. 

I think, probably, that if we could see the other side of the sign¬ 
board on the tree we could find out who lived there. And, say, over 
there where the birds are, I wonder what's happening. The little 
girl is washing some one’s clothes and I must say I'm very curious 
to know why—and whose—and what has happened—and also what 
those funny little old men are doing. 













130 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Clark cfvrJdoP 


A Race or a Chase 

A Boy, a Girl, a Rooster, a Cat, and a Baby, and all in a terrible 
rush, except the Baby ! 

What can the matter be ? And why and how could that poor 
little baby be rolled over that way ? Nobody seems to mind her in 
the least, for all the others seem intent on getting somewhere, for 
some reason, and I wonder what that reason is. It must be an im¬ 
portant one to make them forget the baby. 

What do you think is in that pail? The girl might want it, but 
the cat and the rooster don’t. 

Are they running away from some one who scared them, or is 
some one calling them ? 

But what about that baby ? 

When you find out let us know, will you ? 

On every hand you can find wonderful things to write about. 
When you are traveling on the cars you will see things from the 
windows that suggest stories. You will see doors open and people 
coming and going from a house, so you begin to wonder about it. 
That is the beginning of a story. You can make the story as cheer¬ 
ful as you wish, for when you have written down all that you imag¬ 
ine you can make it end as you like. 






SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT 


131 



iClflrQC.fltUooctl 


Now, isn’t that a good joke? Well, we laughed and laughed 
over it until every one else got to laughing with us. Even the 
dog seemed amused. You know, this was the way it happened. 
—The other day when we went over to see about all the things, 
we didn’t have very much time, but we decided that the only 
thing we could all do and be comfortable was to—excuse me—I’ve 
got to go now I 
































132 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Did you ever feel your kite string tighten so much and pull so 
strongly that you were nearly taken off your feet? If so, you will 
know something about the feeling that this boy had. Here's a 
picture for all the boys and girls who like to read old, old stories 
or myths, and I wonder if any one knows what the name of the 
boy was who was carried away by an eagle, and who knows where 
the eagle carried him. He had a very pleasant work to do in his 
new home, but I sometimes think that perhaps he would rather 
have stayed to take care of his father’s sheep. There’s another pic¬ 
ture of him in a building in Washington, D. C. Can you tell 
where it is ? 





SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT 


133 



I really would like some help in my history lesson this month, 
for I don’t know very much about the boy in the picture, and I 
ought to, for his business was something like mine. But I do know 
that he died in 1820 and that he was then eighty-two years old, and 
that will tell you when he was born. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t in 
America and the picture shows something he did when he was a 
young boy. The cat has something to do with it, in fact if it hadn’t 
been for the cat, he couldn’t have done what he is doing. What do 
you suppose it was ? He grew to be very famous and I think he 
must have been a bright boy to think of what he did. The cat 
didn’t like it much though. 


Dear me, dear me—what a very unpleasant old lady this is in 
the picture on the following page, waving her hand and trying to 
reach that small chap upon the bird house. But isn’t it strange that 
he’s so little and the house is so big or is it that he is natural size and 
the old lady and the bird house are extra large? Oh, I would just 



















134 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



like to know where they live, and what the boy has in his hand. 
But I can see something coming out of his head that shows he’s 
not just an every-day sort of boy. I believe he lives round some¬ 
where where there are toadstools and pixies and things like that 
and I feel sure—oh, I wonder—if that old lady thought she could 
adopt him and he acted so badly that she changed her mind. 
What do you think ? 















SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT 


135 



Can You Throw Light on These Dark Things? 

Now here's a new kind of a picture to write about. All these 
big pictures might be things that happened to some little girl and all 
the little tracks may be the way she went while it was happening. 
There is one place where some one walked round and found some¬ 
thing, and then some one was very much surprised. See the big 
footstep ? And I know that little thing is a pie ! 





136 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



The Blind Singer 

I wonder if you can find out who this little blind singer was if 
I tell you something about him. His father lived in France a 
thousand years ago and wrote songs for the king which he played 
on a golden harp. He died not long after his little son was born. 
They were very poor so this little lad who was blind went out to 
sing his father’s beautiful songs. A wolf became his guide and 
stayed with him until he was old. Now can you find out about it 
and write a story about St. Herve, for that’s who this little blind boy 
became, and it is a story that you will find worth knowing and 
worth telling. Can you write something about the kind of harps 
that were used at that time ? 











137 


SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT 
Pandora 

You may like to select a photograph or some print from a 
magazine to write about. 

Do you know the story of Pandora ? 

Pandora was the name of the first Greek woman, and a woman 
who was inquisitive and prying. 

One evening a man, carrying a heavy box on his shoulders, asked 
if he might leave it in her house for a while. 

On the box a strange head was carved. The feet of the box were 
queer, too. 

Pandora wondered what was inside. She looked it all over and 
tried to open it. Once she thought she heard something moving 
and speaking inside. 

At last she managed to get it unlocked. She did not intend to 
really open it, you know ; she knew it was none of her business, 
but she couldn’t let it alone ; she wanted to just peep into it. 

As soon as she lifted the cover the least bit, out pushed a whole 
swarm of horrid little brown-winged creatures, that seemed to darken 
the air. 

They were the diseases, pains, naughty deeds, cross words, bitter 
thoughts, that make the world unhappy. 

Pandora was frightened. She jumped on the lid of the box and 
tried to shut it, and did, at last, but not before all but one of the 
little creatures had managed to crawl out and get away. One little 
imp was hurt in making his escape but he came to, after a while, and 
went off to make trouble, like the rest. 

A famous picture of Pandora and her box has been painted by 
the artist, Church, who has told the story in his picture better than 
anybody else. The carving on Pandora’s box is a Gorgon’s head, 
with hateful snakes for locks of hair. That was the old way of 
marking the box “ Dangerous.” Pandora should have known that. 
But she didn’t stop to think. 

The one that got left in the box was Hope. One of the goddesses 
had tucked her in at the last moment, when the box was being 
filled, because she felt sorry for those to whom it was going. And 
so ever since Hope has helped every one who is in trouble, for no 
matter how hard things are to bear, hope makes them lighter and 
helps us along the way. 


138 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



“As Mad as a March Hare” 

Did you ever hear old people say that ? Mr. Bunny runs and 
jumps partly because he is glad the spring is coming again; but 
perhaps he gets so crazy as the artist shows him to be in March 
because old brer Benjamin Ram gets after him 1 The March wind 
sweeps old Mother Nature’s house for her, wakes up all her children, 
and blows the birds back into the front yard to sing to us about the 
good time coming. 

The confusion in this picture must mean that the little company 
did not understand “ signals.” There are a good many signals in 
the world ; some say “ Stop ” and some say “ Go ahead.” We could 
write a good many things about the signals for locomotive engineers. 
At night one can see nothing but little red and green lights with 
occasionally a waving lantern swung by a trackman. 

Yet there is always some one, somewhere, who knows how to set 
all those signals just as they should be so that the trains will not run 
into each other. 




PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP 


139 


Put on Your “Thinking Cap” 


Did You Ever Have a C. O. D. W. P. ? 

Now I am sure that most of you think that’s something to eat. 
It is better than that. Those who have it say that there is nothing 
else just like it. Well, Richard, over there in the corner, what do 
you think it is ? Something to play with? No, that isn’t it. Alice, 
you may guess. Something to wear? So you think something to 
wear is better than something to eat. But this is still better. Per¬ 
haps I ought to help you just a wee bit by giving you a sort of 
hint that it may not be the kind of thing you are most apt to think 
of first. 

What do you have, John, when your garden is nicely weeded 
and the little plants are coming up in their straight rows? Radishes 
and lettuce, did you say ? But that’s not all you have. I am sure 
you have a c. o. d. w. p. And I think Eleanor has one too when 
her room is carefully dusted and all her things are put away in the 
different places where they belong. Some sisters that I know used 
to do everything they could to make sure one would come to them 
once in a while. 

Ah ! that sets Henry thinking. If it is something that comes to 
people you think it must be a pet of some sort. That isn’t just ex¬ 
actly right, although this thing I am talking about does come to 
you without calling and you can think just as much of it as you can 
of a pet. It really is worth more to have come often than any vis¬ 
itor I ever heard about. 

So you all think that no one can be expected to guess what a lot 
of letters like that stand for. Probably you are right, and I will 
not make you wait any longer. But I want you to be sure to find 
out for yourselves whether this thing is good to have or not. A 
c. o. d. w. p. is just a “ consciousness of duty well performed.” When 
you are sure that it has come to you, you will understand why it 
came and be glad. 

If it does not come to you daily I am sure that something else 
will come in its place and that is right. 



140 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Do Names Matter? 

It may be true that a rose by any other name would smell as 
sweet, but I think that it would be hard to get another name for a 
rose that we should like as well. Some names seem to fit the things 
or persons to which they are attached so perfectly that no one would 
dream of changing them. But what do you think of the name given 
to a little English girl of which I have read? Her parents did not 
want to choose two or three names alone so they decided to give her 
a name for every letter of the alphabet. When the minister chris¬ 
tened her this is what he had to say : “Anna Bertha Cecilia Diana 
Emily Fanny Gertrude Hypatia Inez Jane Kate Louise Maude 

Nora-and a lot more until he ended up with “ Zeus.” What 

do you suppose they called her for a nickname or when they were 
in a hurry ? 

Have you ever noticed that some names are much easier to say 
than others? We always like to repeat the name of Ralph Waldo 
Emerson or Oliver Wendell Holmes because the accents seem to be 
just right. Then there are names which sound so important! I 
have heard of twin brothers born on the fourth of July whose first 
names were Liberty and Independence. It is a serious thing to have 
to carry through life a famous name because it is so hard to live up 
to it. Think of having to be called Abraham Lincoln or Napoleon 
Bonaparte^ all your life, especially when there is nothing in the least 
about you to suggest either of those great men. While we cannot 
choose our own names we can at least try to make others see that 
there is some good in them. It is a splendid thing to give one’s own 
name so much meaning that every one will learn to respect and love 
it whether its accents are just in the right place or not. Tell me of 
some famous name which you think has just the right sound. Per¬ 
haps you know of some name given to some friend of yours which 
you think is just about as perfect as a name can be. Then I wish 
you would try to think of some famous person who did not have a 
very beautiful name to start with but who made the name he had so 
honorable that every one who now speaks it cannot help doing so 
without respect. 

It’s the song ye sing, and the smile ye wear 
That’s a-makin’ the sun shine everywhere. 

—James Whitcomb Riley . 


PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP ” 


141 


Do You Believe in Signs? 

Not weather signs, but those that are painted on boards or cards 
and put up to warn people of what they must or must not do. What 
would you think of a sign like this which a man put up on the grass 
lawn in front of his house ? 

I guess you would be careful 
to keep on the sidewalk when 
you went around that corner. 

I once came across a sign which said 

Of course all boys—possibly all girls 
too—want to be counted among the 

I found this year had on it just one word— 
Naturally every one who saw it wanted to know 
what it was that they were expected to do or not 
to do. Such a polite sign made them polite in return. 

Once in a while signs seems to say 
what they do not mean. Here is one 
from a library : 

I suspect that nobody likes to be ordered around. 

So when we see the sign 
it irritates us. Perhaps it just makes us want all the more to go on. 

Boys are forever finding the sign 

just where they want to go. That sign always 
puzzles me. Does it mean that no one must 
even step on the land of the man who put up the sign ? Then how 
can we possibly take those long walks or runs through the woods 
and across the pastures ? If it means “ Do not take fruit or flowers 
and do not injure property ” then we certainly ought to obey it. I 
am quite sure we ought to read and obey the signs even though they 
are not always as kindly as they might be. Some time we may want 
other people to read and obey the signs we put up. 

On hundreds of busy street corners in large cities, and even in 
small towns policemen stand all day making signs with their hands 
and arms or with something else so that automobiles and horses and 
people won't get all mixed up together. Let us all keep our eyes 
and ears open for “ signs," 


NO TRESPASSING 


KEEP OFF 


ONLY LOW CONVERSA¬ 
TION PERMITTED HERE 


gentlemen. 

Another sign 

PLEASE 


GENTLEMEN WILL NOT 
OTHERS MUST NOT 
TRESPASS HERE 


ONLY FEEBLE MINDED PERSONS 
WALK ACROSS THIS CORNER 








142 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Some Things to Hear 

1. How many sounds can you hear to-morrow morning on your 
porch before breakfast ? 

2. Listen in the evening, in the same place, to the crickets and 
frogs, and see if you can remember to hear them even while you are 
talking. 

3. Is there any difference in sound between the wind in the 
pines and the rain on the roof? Do you notice the difference be¬ 
tween the rain as it falls on a shingled, a slated, and a tinned roof? 

Some Things to Feel 

1. The touch of gentle rain in your face. 

2. A bed of cool, soft moss in the woods when you are barefoot. 

3. By their response to your touch, how the different farm ani¬ 

mals feel toward you. 

4. The different bites of fish, trout and pickerel, on your line. 

Some Things to Taste 

1. Vegetables. How many can you distinguish with your eyes 
shut ? 

2. Water. Which is more refreshing, cool water from the spring 
or ice water? Which is the better for you to drink? 

3. Butter. Do you know by the taste when the butter is good ? 

Some Things to Smell 

1. The pine woods. 

2. A distant buckwheat field in bloom. 

3. A garden full of flowers at night. 

4. Clean rooms at home. 

5. Good cooking. 

So you see that the feasts of life do not all come to us through 
our lips. And this word “ feasts ” reminds me of what Mrs. Ellen 
H. Richards used to say constitute “ the Feasts of Life.” Notice 
that the initials of these words spell the word “ feast.” 

F Food 
E Exercise 
A Amusement 
S Sleep 
T Tasks 


PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP 


143 


The Boys and the Frogs 

Do you like the drawing on the following page ? It is surely 
full of life and sunshine. When I was a boy we used to go to a 
pool by an old willow tree where the grass was full of violets and 
buttercups, and the water was full of pollywogs and turtles. We 
used to walk in the soft, warm grass and wade in the cool water, 
that turned our toes the color of Uncle Stephen’s pocketbook, and 
hunt for tender little flagteats to eat. Ever eat any? They are 
good ! 

The boys in the picture are standing in Sweet Flags. What 
other water plants can you see and name ? I see four others. 
Those shoots from the willow are just right for making willow 
whistles. 

Did you ever see a fence like that in the picture? What is 
the right name for that kind of a fence? The bushes by the 
fence are not willows. How has Miss Atwood told you that 
they are not ? How has she shown the difference between soft 
grass and wet water? How many frogs can you see? I think 
one frog has just “gone below,”—pulled his nose beneath the sur¬ 
face of the water. Can you find a proof in the picture that I may 
be right ? 

Look at the faces of the boys. Which one looks as though he 
had just heard the words of the wise old frog, and might change his 
mind about throwing any more stones? 

Study the faces of the two boys. Do you think that they look 
really happy ? It takes two to play. How many pairs of things 
can you find in the picture ? Two boys, two stones in their hands, 
two clumps of bushes on the distant hillside, etc. How many pairs ? 
I find fourteen. Can you ? Do the boys look really happy? That 
kind of play is best which is enjoyed by both sides. 

Some one has said, “Don’t butt in, but fit in!” What could 
they have meant by that? Perhaps that means the boy or girl who 
is on the wrong side and who always seems to break up a game. 
Because the rest don’t like interference and argument the game is 
spoiled. 

Whenever we are going to do anything with other people, 
whether it is play or work, whether they are young or old, it is quite 
important that we should not be misfits. 


144 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



What’s Fun For One Should Be Fun For All 

Two boys were playing at the edge of a Pond when, perceiving a 
number of frogs in the water, they began to pelt at them with stones. 
They had already killed many of the poor creatures, when one more 
hardy than the rest cried out to them : “Stop your cruel Sport, my 
lads ; consider, what is Play to you is Death to us.” 

One of JEsop’s Fables . 




















































145 


PUT ON YOUR “THINKING CAP” 

A Christmas Present 

Once upon a time an old man wanted to be where nobody 
could visit him. He found a cave high up on the side of a steep 
mountain. There he lived with just an old pine tree for company. 
Only the crows ever saw him. He ate nothing but roasted chest¬ 
nuts. He grew old and lean and wrinkled. His beard grew so long 
it came to the ground. He forgot all about everybody, and thought 
only of himself. 

One bright morning a little boy named Theodore, whose father 
was tending sheep on the sunny side of the mountain, was running 
about to see what he could find. He found a wild apple tree in 
bloom. The flowers were so pretty he broke off* a branch to carry 
in his hand. 

He wandered on and on, until at last he was a long way from 
his father. And then he spied under the edge of a great rock a 
spring of cold water. He drank some of it. Then he saw a little 
path from the spring, going off into the bushes. “ I will follow it,” 
he thought. “ I wonder where it goes to.” Theodore followed the 
path a long time. Suddenly it came out upon a great shelf of rock. 
Around a corner at the very end of the shelf he found the old man. 
At first he could hardly believe his eyes. He had never seen such 
an old man before. 

I am sure that some boys might have been afraid, but Theo¬ 
dore, because he loved everybody, ran to him and gave him his 
apple blossoms. 

The old man was so surprised to see a little child where he 
supposed nobody would come, and so pleased with his sweet gift, 
that he thought afterward an angel must surely have brought them 
to him. 

Look at every bit of the picture on the next page. Notice the 
old man’s fingers and toes. See what beautiful wings the angel 
has. Can you tell what the pretty patterns are on his robes? 
Don’t you think Margaret Ely Webb must have a magic pen to 
make such a picture and to make it tell exactly what the old man 
thought ? 

Perhaps some poor old lonesome person would be as glad to see 
you with a gift next Christmas morning. Your gift need not be 
wonderful nor expensive. 


146 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

















































147 


PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP” 

Do You Rush For Car Seats? 

What a foolish question ! Everybody scrambles to get seats in 
the cars, of course. If they didn’t, how could they get them, 
especially in rush hours? When there is a big crowd waiting 
you’ve just got to scramble or else you will have to stand, and how 
do you like that ? 

Yes, I suppose that is all true and if we are ever going to capture 
the seats we have a right to we must push in ahead. Yet I cannot 
help wondering a little. Now that we are talking about this, I 
remember seeing an old gentleman the other day actually waiting 
politely to let the other people get on a car first. He seemed to be 
especially anxious that every woman should get in ahead of him. 
He even offered to let some of the men go before him. I wondered 
why he was so foolish, because when he got in of course all the seats 
were taken. 

How much brighter do you think those boys were who beat 
the old gentleman. They had it all planned out just where to stand 
to be in front of the car when the door opened. Then they even 
managed to push by several persons who were leaving the car at 
that place. In that way they got the start of all the rest and found 
splendid seats. Wasn’t it clever of them? And how cheap all the 
other people must have felt to have been beaten by two small boys. 
Served the old gentleman right to have to stand ! Any one who is 
as slow as that ought not to expect to get anything. 

But let me tell you about another foolish person in the same car. 
It was a young college girl who actually got up and urged the old 
gentleman to take her seat. At first he wouldn’t, but she insisted. 
She really said it would make her a great deal happier if he would 
sit down. I suppose he must have believed her for he took the seat. 
The clever boys couldn’t imagine why people should talk and act 
like that. They were the only sensible ones. They were smart 
enough to get in first and they’d like to see themselves giving up a 
good seat they had earned for any one who was too slow to get 
ahead of them ! 

Ever since I have kept on wondering about it all. Possibly 
rushing for car seats isn’t such a tremendously clever thing to do 
after all. It may be that it is even a silly thing to do. What do 
you think about it ? 


148 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Kindly Deeds to Animal Friends 

I want you to think about those who have been kind to birds 
and animals. Many of these facts I gathered from a very interesting 
book entitled “ Heroes and Greathearts and their Animal Friends.’' 
Others have come from a further knowledge of the boyhood of those 
who now have a world-wide fame. 

George Washington was very fond of horses when a boy. One 
of the stories that the children used to read in the old-fashioned 
Weems’ “ Life of Washington ” was about the spirited young colt 
that George tried to ride. You remember, perhaps, how he seriously 
injured the young horse. When his father asked him if he had 
been riding it he said he had. Then Weems tells us that his father 
said he would rather have a truth-telling son than all the fine horses 
in the world. 

Another famous American who was fond of horses when a boy 
was Ulysses S. Grant. Even when he started to school at West 
Point he was noted for his horsemanship. No animal was too wild 
for him to tame. His reward for this skill and kindness came when 
he became a great general, because his horse once saved him from 
being captured as a prisoner of war. 

Lincoln, we know, was particularly fond of birds. There is a 
pretty story about his dismounting from his horse, and going back 
to replace some young birds in a nest from which they had fallen. 

Audubon, the first great friend of the birds in this country, loved 
them when he was a child. Instead of playing with other boys, he 
used to spend hour after hour in his father’s big garden, watching the 
birds, noting how they built their nests and got their food. Even 
then he began to try to paint them, and made pictures wonderfully 
lifelike for a little boy. 

Louis Agassiz, whom we think of later as knowing about the 
mysteries of the deep sea, was also a lover of birds. When he was 
a student in college, he was visited in his room by about forty birds 
who made their home in a small pine tree he had set up in the 
garden. 

Whittier, as you know, was a farm boy. When he was very 
young he learned to drive oxen instead of horses. They were so 
tame and gentle he used to sit on their heads with his legs in their 
faces and then lie back and rest between their horns. One day he 


PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP 


149 


took a bag of salt to give the cattle, and they liked salt so much they 
were crazy to get it. One big ox ran toward him so fast he could 
not stop himself, but gave a great leap and jumped over young 
Whittier’s head and so saved his life. That was an incident of won¬ 
derful animal instinct. 

When I was a boy we always used to recite in school what was 
then a well-known story of Daniel Webster and the woodchuck. 
Daniel’s brother Ezekiel caught a woodchuck and brought it home, 
intending to kill it. When Daniel saw the bright, black-eyed little 
animal, he pitied it and tried to persuade his brother to let it go. 
The two brothers could not agree so they asked their father what he 
thought about it. The father suggested that they have a debate in 
his presence. So Ezekiel gave his reasons for killing the woodchuck. 
He said it was a thief, that its skin was valuable and might as well 
be made into a fur cap. But Daniel said that God gave the wood¬ 
chuck life and no one had a right to take it unless it was necessary. 
The story finished by saying that Daniel’s appeal for the woodchuck 
was so strong that when he got through tears were running down 
Mr. Webster’s face and he cried, “ Zeke, Zeke, let that woodchuck 
go!” 

Sir Edwin Landseer was perhaps the greatest dog painter who 
ever lived. When he was only five years old he tried to draw a 
picture of a foxhound from life, and when only ten he drew a mastiff 
sleeping, which was so fine that the picture afterward sold for three 
hundred and fifty dollars. And in that day it was quite a fabulous 
sum to pay for such a picture. 

Let me close with one more story which I think is best of all. 
Francis Thompson, an English poet, who has lately died, was a great 
lover of birds. One day in autumn he fastened to one of the wings 
of a migrating swallow a small piece of oiled paper on which were 
written the words : “ Swallow, little swallow, I wonder where you pass 
the winter.” 

Quite early the next spring the swallow came back to his nest in 
Thompson’s garden at the usual time. The poet saw something tied 
to his leg. He caught the bird and found a small piece of oiled 
paper on which was this answer : “ Florence, at the house of Castel- 
lari. Cordial greetings to the friend in the north.” 

Wasn’t that a pleasant message to bring? 


150 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Something for Mother’s Profit 
The most beautiful home I ever visited was one where there were 
six children. The father was a minister—and you know ministers 
are seldom rich. But this was the richest home I ever saw. All I 
remember about the furniture is that every piece of it and every pic¬ 
ture on the walls looked as if it were a dear friend. It was the chil¬ 
dren that were the treasures of this home, and the reason was that 
every one of them was a loving giver. 

Some folks read this page about “ Profit ” to learn how they can 
get . These youngsters had learned that the thing that is of greatest 
profit is to give. 

I arrived in the night. In the morning I was awakened by a 
knock and a voice in the hall. The knock was no louder than a 
fairy’s touch and the voice was about four years tall. This was the 
youngest child, coming to give me a morning welcome. He waited to 
lead me down-stairs. In the living-room I found the oldest daughter. 
If I had been as young and handsome as I sometimes like to think I 
am, she could not have made a more hearty endeavor to give me a 
happy half hour before breakfast. She was never to see me again, 
but she was so sweet that I can never forget her. At the table the 
oldest son asked the blessing. The second one helped the second 
daughter to wait upon the table. This boy was so skilful about 
putting my rolls down to my left and my coffee at my right that I 
never even dodged for fear he would pour the latter into my neck. 
Let me see what did Number Five give? Oh, yes, he went clear out 
of his way to show me the station, and gave me the last gift of all— 
a smile as he turned the corner. 

Your mother has read a beautiful book called “ The Simple Life.” 
The gentle writer of that book once stayed in this house, as I did, and 
before he went away he said to the father, “ I have dreamed about 
the simple life. Here I have seen it.” 

During the hot summer days what could be more profitable for 
a loving boy or girl who has a dear, tired mother, than to help her? 

In another home the boys were taught to keep track of their 
belongings and it meant great profit to their mother. 

They knew what pieces of wearing apparel had gone to the wash 
and when the things were aired on the clothes-horse each selected his 
collars, handkerchiefs or underwear and carried them to his room. 


PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP 


151 


Do You Say “A-er”? 

Two girls were standing on a railroad station platform the other 
day waiting for the same train that I was expecting to take. One 
of them kept asking questions beginning “ Say,” or “ Listen,” and 
the other kept answering “ A-er.” First I thought she must mean 
something about an aeroplane (I hope you do not say “ areoplane ”) 
but that was not it at all. Then I wondered if she felt faint and 
was calling for air. But that couldn't have been it for she was 
standing out-of-doors with all the air she needed. At last I found 
out that all the girl was trying to do was to say “ yes.” It seems to 
me that she made hard work of it. 

I felt so sorry for her that she should have such a hard time 
saying such an easy little word. Do you suppose there was anything 
the matter with her tongue so that she couldn't pronounce the 
letters y and s ? I guess you have to have teeth as well as a tongue 
for those letters. Perhaps she had lost her first teeth and the 
second ones had not come. But she looked old enough to have all 
her teeth and to know how to speak correctly. I’ll have to give it 
up. I really do not know any good reason why she had to say 
“ a-er ” instead of “ yes.” 

I heard the story of a little boy who came home from church 
and asked his father what the choir meant when they sang, “ Wakaw 
swa daw oraw ! ” After puzzling over the matter for a while the 
father remembered that one of the choir hymns that morning began 
with the words, “ Welcome, sweet day of rest,” and he explained to 
the boy that the singers did not seem to have learned how to sing 
straight. 

Several college girls were together at a theatre recently and 
some one who sat near them noticed how they began nearly every 
sentence with either “Say,” or “Look,” or “ Listen.” That makes 
me think of the railroad crossing signs I see once in a while which 
tell you to “ Stop, Look, Listen ! ” But I do not see why you and I 
should keep warning our friends that there is something dangerous 
coming whenever we want to say some simple thing. We surely do 
not mean to harm them. 

Wouldn't you really like to be able to pronounce and speak the 
English language correctly ? Not many people can do it, but it 
would be worth all the effort. 


152 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

How Much Do You Care For Flowers? 

Probably you have all seen a “ sensitive plant.” Some of you 
shake your heads. I remember how I used to hunt up these plants 
in the old garden near the house where I lived when I was a 
boy. It was such fun to touch their leaves and see them curl 
up. These leaves look very beautiful when open. If you just 
barely touch one of these leaflet groups the little leaves close to¬ 
gether as tight as possible and all the separate clusters hang down 
just as if they were frightened. 

I never really supposed plants minded being poked as boys and 
girls do. But a great and learned professor of botany from India, 
with the interesting name of Jagadis Chandra Bose, has proved that 
plants can feel pain and get sick. Then I think the treatment they 
often get from some boys and girls of whom I have heard must 
worry them terribly. 

If plants can feel pain, possibly they can also feel pleasure. 
They certainly act as if they could when, after a hot July day, a 
cooling shower comes along and makes them all lift up their heads. 
I think they must be especially pleased when one particular little 
girl I know comes among them. She says such kindly things to 
them and is very careful how she treats them. 

Choosing 

Have you thought of what you would like to be? 

When Bayard Taylor was a schoolboy he made a collection of 
autographs. It was getting a kind letter from Charles Dickens 
that made him think that he too could be a writer. Whittier was 
started on his way by a Scotch tramp who sang to him some of the 
songs of Robert Burns, and Sir Walter Scott became a story-teller 
by listening to the tales told him by shepherds when as a lame boy 
he lay in the pastures. When Ruskin was a young man he once 
gave a coin to a beggar in Venice. The beggar in gratitude gave 
him a small relic from an old church, and it was the study of what 
else he found in that church that led to his being the greatest art 
critic of his time. 

Keep as many windows open as you can and some day you will 
find your Calling coming down the road to meet you with a song 
on its lips and both of its hands full of good work for you. 


153 


PUT ON YOUR “THINKING CAP” 

How Do You Pronounce “Pilikia” ? 

That is a question that was asked by an eleven-year-old girl in 
Hawaii. She says this interesting word means “troubled I 
wonder if that makes it any harder than any other word to pro¬ 
nounce. The word “ Hawaii ” itself seems to me a hard word to 
say. What do you think? 

Adelaide—for that is the name of the girl who is trying to 
puzzle us—is willing to help a little bit by saying that “in 
Hawaiian e is i and i is e.” So I will make a guess that the trouble 
word is pronounced “ pee-lee-kee-ya.” Do you suppose that can be 
right? 

What a lot of piliJcia we all have in pronouncing right anyhow ! 
Adelaide says that she goes to the “ Punahou school ” but that I 
must not pronounce the u but just say Punaho. What a bother it 
must be to have to look at the u every time and immediately forget 
all about it ! And think of all th q pilikia we have in writing letters 
we don’t need ! 

There are all those “ ough ” words, for example. Plough and 
through and dough and cough and tough. If they were only written 
plow and thru and do and coff and tuff anybody could say them right. 
Why should vain and vein and vane be all pronounced the same 
way ? Why do we ever have to be bothered with such flower names 
as eschscholtzia and such city names as Przemysl? 

I suppose the boys and girls of every land think that the boys 
and girls of other lands have queer ways of talking. The lan¬ 
guages we don’t know always seem to be just a jumble of sounds. 
Did you ever think that when we talk we seem, to those who hear 
us and do not know our language, to be saying the same foolish 
jumble ? 

But you do not think the same way about a language you have 
really learned. I think the world would be much less interesting 
if everybody talked just like everybody else. Every word has a 
history behind it. Many words tell long stories in their queer 
spellings and their unreasonable pronunciations. When you once 
have learned these words and know their stories you do not care so 
much to have them changed. 

It is very interesting to learn the origin of words,—to trace their 
parentage and to learn from what people they came. 


154 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Are You Ever a Weed? 

What a curious idea 1 As if a healthy boy or girl could be a 
weed I But just listen to what my big dictionary says a weed may 
be. “ Plants that are cultivated for use or beauty, as grasses, hemp, 
carrot, parsnip, morning-glory, become weeds when they spring up 
where they are not wanted.” Now if a perfectly good plant becomes 
a weed merely by growing in the wrong place and getting in the 
way of something else that was carefully planned for, why may it 
not be 'possible for such fine specimens of human plants, as those 
who read this article surely must be, to become weeds once in a 
while when they get into the wrong place? 

Once I had a strawberry patch that I was especially proud of. 
In order to let the big red berries have a clean bed to lie on while 
they were growing I spread a lot of hay in among the plants. Be¬ 
fore a great while the hay seed sprouted and the grass began to grow 
everywhere and I had a very troublesome time weeding the bed. 
All that wonderful new growth became just plain bothersome weeds 
to me and I pulled it out with quite a cross feeling. Yet if that 
grass had only grown in the bare places in my front lawn how 
thankful I would have been and how beautiful it would have looked 
to me. 

It was a good thing in the wrong place. 

It seems rather unkind to get angry with a wonderful little 
plant just because it grows where it had to grow, that is, wherever 
the wind or the birds happened to drop the seeds. Perhaps some 
children have seemed like weeds when they were really growing up 
as well as they could in the only place they had to grow in. It is 
only when you and I get a bit selfish and actually push into the 
place which was intended for some one else that we deserve to be 
thought of as weeds. 

I hope all of you have gardens of your own. And I hope you 
keep them weeded. Even in summer’s hottest days the plants you 
are anxious to have grow need your kind care. It seems as if the 
weeds we did not want could keep on growing in any kind of weather. 
When you pull them up try to see how graceful and pretty some of 
them are. 

In the right place you might think them even beautiful. Isn’t 
it well to make sure that you are in the right place ? 


PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP 


155 


What is the Use of Music ? 

If you could see the quaint old picture that I have been looking 
at you would discover a use for music that you did not suspect. 
The picture is of a harbor with very blue water surrounded by very 
black hills, and bordered with curious old red houses. There is a 
wharf and some small vessels. Up in the sky, which is yellow, is a 
most interesting scene. Three cherubs, consisting of head, arms, 
and wings alone, are making vigorous music. One is blowing a 
horn, another holds a singing book and the third is playing a sort 
of violin. The effect of this chorus is to drive a black devil, with a 
long pointed tail and red wings, in headlong flight through the sky. 
Evidently the music is something he cannot endure. 

This picture goes with an old English folk song called “ Brix- 
ham Town,” sung by those three very delightful Fuller sisters from 
England. One verse reads like this : 


u Now there be creatures three, 
As you shall plainly see, 
With music can’t agree 
Upon this very earth : 


The swine, the fool, the ass, 
And so we let it pass 
And sing O Lord, thy praise 
While we have breath.” 


No wonder we “ humans ” want to show that we can sing. We cer¬ 
tainly do not like the idea of being counted in with the swine, the 
fool or the ass. The old song ends up by encouraging us all to sing 
as well as we can. 


u So now good friends, adieu : 
We hope that all of you 
Will pull most strong and true 
In strains to serve the Lord. 


God prosper us that we 
Like angels may agree 
In singing merrily 
In time and in accord.” 


Perhaps it was the music inside that kept evil spirits out of the 
churches. They were supposed to hover round the old cathedral 
towers. The queer stone figures called “ gargoyles ” on these famous 
cathedrals show the ideas people used to have of them. On the 
towers of the great cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is a famous 
image called the vampire. He looks across Paris with mocking 
eyes and a tongue that sticks out, as if he had nothing but con¬ 
tempt for the great city. His back is toward the church and his 
hands are partially closing his ears. Perhaps he does not enjoy 
hearing the people sing praises. 


156 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Do You See Things ? 

Do you see things in the broad daylight, with your eyes open ? 
When you walk down the street on a bright sunny morning do you 
see things? What things? How many of you can tell what you 
see? Or even remember that you saw anything? Let me turn my 
questions around and ask you what you didn’t see. When you 
woke up this morning there was still a wonderful sunrise color in 
the eastern sky. You didn’t see that, did you? Of course not. 
Why should you ? It was bother enough getting dressed without 
looking out of the window. 

One day on your way to school the trees were all covered with 
ice and every branch sparkled with diamonds. Didn’t you see 
the million flashing lights? No, I suppose you couldn’t very 
well because you were looking at a new knife that your chum 
just bought or thinking about the party that all the other girls 
were going to. 

Perhaps you didn’t notice that they were painting the railroad 
station, or that Smith’s Drug Store had its front plate glass window 
broken, or that the “ Morning News ” had a bulletin out announcing 
that the President made a great speech. Tell me now, what did you 
really see on the way to school ? Nothing at all ? One thing you saw, 
did you say ? Oh, the fire engine go by ! I wonder if you would 
have seen even that if it hadn’t made such a noise. What a pity it 
is that we all fail to see so much that is before our eyes every day. 

There are the wonderful changes of colors and clouds in the sky. 
There are the beautiful trees both in winter and summer. There 
are wonderful church spires, and lofty domes, and great monuments 
always worth looking at. With April come the wild flowers to be 
looked at and all the spring things. 

Then there are people—the most interesting of all. We are sure 
to see freakish or evil things—why can’t we see the good things ? 
A boy picks up a parcel for a lady. Did we notice it? An old 
gentleman had such a cheerful smile—did it make us happier? A 
little child tumbled down in front of ns. Were we too busy think¬ 
ing about nothing important to see it and help it? 

It would be an interesting exercise if we each tried to tell at 
night all the beautiful things we had seen during the day. Perhaps 
this would make us see more of such things. 


PUT ON YOUR “ THINKING CAP ” 


157 


The Boy Who Thought Round 

You have often heard children praised who could see straight 
and think straight and be straight. I am sure that you would all 
like to be praised for that. 

Of course, every boy and girl should see and think and be just 
that. But sometimes seeing straight means thinking around a 
corner, or over an edge to the other side. Not many people can do 
that. Once upon a time there was a boy who could. His name was 
Christopher Columbus. 

When Columbus was a little lad all the sailors he knew, and 
everybody else, thought the world was flat. If you traveled far 
enough you would come to the edge and fall off, they told him. 
“ Fall off!” he wondered. “ How could that be? Fall off into 
what? ” 

The boy used to sit on a big post at the wharf, and watch the 
ships sail away. They seemed to grow smaller and smaller, and, at 
last, to go down behind the edge of the water. Did they fall off 
there ? No; they sailed on to distant lands. Perhaps one day 
Columbus, holding an orange in his hand, and thinking about what 
there was over the rim of the world, saw a fly crawl out of sight 
over the rind of the orange just like ships over the sea ! The fly 
didn’t fall off! Perhaps the ships—Ah! he would find out about 
all that some day. It was at that very moment that he put on his 
thinking cap and he put it on with profit. 

The boy ran away from home and went to sea. All sorts of 
things happened to him, but everywhere and all the time he kept 
his eyes and his ears open, and learned all he could. He studied 
all the old maps he could find and read every scrap he could get 
hold of telling of travels to foreign lands. Again and again he 
watched the shadow of the earth creep across the moon. He kept 
thinking, thinking , thinking, and at last he was sure that the earth 
was a ball. 

You all know how finally he found somebody to trust him with 
ships and men, and how, after weeks and weeks of sailing, he dis¬ 
covered America, in October, 1492. It all came about just as he had 
clearly dreamed. 

Wasn’t it worth while for him to keep his thinking cap on? 
And what a wonderful 14 cap ” it must have been! 


158 SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Some New Recipes 

Here is Something to Think About 
A Disobedient Child 

Easily made, even by an amateur parent. Take any healthy 
baby and mix it with constant cuddles. Poke it often to make it 
laugh. Never fail to do what it wants you to, no matter what it 
needs. Never expect it to do anything it doesn’t want to. As it 
grows older give it orders as you please but never insist. Do not 
teach it either to behave or to help. If it makes an unnecessary 
noise tell it to stop and then giggle. Always when company is 
present refuse to make a scene by even hinting at the child’s duty. 
Keep this up until the child is six and you’ll never need to worry 
about possible obedience. 

A Thoughtful Child 

Mix in a little common-sense with the breakfast-food. Let 
baby run after the spool that spills out of the work-basket and then 
make sure that he brings it to mamma. Gently indicate that the 
danger of being scratched is not the only reason for not pulling the 
cat’s tail. Reward even the bungling attempt at helpfulness with a 
smile. Make a chance for toddler to help even when there isn’t any 
and lean on the shoulders that cannot bear your weight. Let birds 
and flowers into the family fellowship. Find out what the three- 
year-old wants to do before you judge what he is doing. Do not 
break in when your child is serious or destroy his joyful illusions. 
Respect the personality of every baby and encourage it. Be thoughtful. 
Don’t be discouraged if at six years there is still room for improvement. 

Think for Yourself 

We have all heard of round pegs in square holes or square pegs 
in round holes. They do not fit together and even if such pegs are 
driven into such holes they are not sure to hold. The round peg 
fits best in a round hole which it fills full. 

Sometimes we try to do things that other persons have told us 
to do and fail because we do not know how to do them. Then the 
fault of our failure is not wholly ours. But what shall we do about 
it? Certainly we ought not to give up too easily, for many a time 
people who did not seem to be able to do certain things have learned 
how to do them just as well as others. 


SOMETHING TO SEARCH FOR 


159 


Something to Search For 



Find the Hound 

Mister Sly Fox on the trunk of the tree, 

Is as frightened of Dogs as a Foxie can be. 

If you’ll hold up this picture and turn it around, 
You will find in the branches the shape of a hound. 










160 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 






































































SOMETHING TO SEARCH FOR 


161 



A RACOON CATCHING FISH FOR HIMSELF ; BUT HIS MATE IS WAITING FOR 
HER SHARE. CAN YOU FIND HER ? 


Look Sharp ! 

In every picture there is something to search for,—something 
that is not purposely hidden, but that is not seen at a glance. 
Do you see only the foreground of a picture or do you see what 
is less prominent? 

Can you see the purple in morning shadows and the opal tints 
in the evening sky? 

Can you sometimes see false rain? 















162 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Find the Hare 

A Hound was crossing ’neath some trees 
And struck a scent upon the breeze. 
He held his nose down near the ground 
And pretty soon, the trail he found, 

Then started off at rapid pace, 

To give a Hare a royal chase. 

The Hare at last was very near— 

He’s hiding in the picture here. 












TELLING STORIES 


163 


“ Telling Stories” 


In the Great Walled Country 

Here is a story for you to tell at Christmas time at home or in school or at 
Sunday-school. Study it so that you can really tell the story and not simply 
recite something you have committed to memory. (1) Read the story aloud until 
you have become acquainted with the people and the places. (2) Try to imagine 
how the people looked and how they felt. (3) Remember what they did and 
what they said. (4) Decide on what the story really means. (5) Study the out¬ 
line to help you to arrange the happenings in order. The outline will help you 
to use some of the words that belong to the story. (6) Practice the story aloud 
to make it really belong to you. (7) Tell it in your very best tone and language 
so that your listeners may understand it and enjoy it as you do. 

The Great Walled Country away in the far north is surrounded 
by a high thick wall of ice and snow, and is full of children who 
never grow up. Even the King and Queen are always children. 

Their Christmas season is beautiful, and very interesting, be¬ 
cause Grandfather Christmas lives just on the north side of the ice 
wall. Because Grandfather Christmas is so near a neighbor and 
because he loves these children best of all the children in the world, 
they have a very pleasant understanding about Christmas presents. 
The day before Christmas, before he sets forth to the rest of the 
world, Grandfather Christmas goes into a forest of Christmas trees 
behind the palace, and fills the trees with things the children love. 
When night comes, the children, instead of waiting in their beds, go 
to the forest to gather gifts for their friends. They have been cele¬ 
brating Christmas this way for hundreds of years and will probably 
do so for hundreds of years to come. 

Once the children in the Great Walled Country had a very 
strange Christmas. An old man, the first stranger for many years, 

came to the land. He looked so wise the king invited him to the 

palace. Christmas was near, and when the traveler heard about 

their Christmas customs, he shook his head and said to the king, 
“ That is all very well, but such near neighbors of Grandfather 
Christmas might find a much better way. Why do you take so 
much trouble to find presents for other people? Why not have 
every one get his own presents? Each one could find just what he 
wanted. No one knows what you want so well as you do yourself.” 
Then the people agreed that they had been very foolish never to 



164 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


have thought of this simple way of getting Christmas gifts. The 
king’s counsellors said, “ If we do this, no one can ever find fault. 
Let us try this new plan.” So the king sent forth the proclamation, 
and all the people were more eager than ever for Christmas Eve to 
come. Every one had some time been a bit disappointed with his 
gifts ; now each might choose just what he wanted. 

On Christmas Eve they always met at the palace and sang carols 
before setting forth into the forest. At ten o’clock, after merry 
Christmas greetings, they had separated eagerly to find in the forest 
beautiful presents to give to each other the next morning. On this 
particular Christmas the king thought the carols less merry and the 
children’s voices less glad, though he could not understand why. 

One little boy named Inge was sad this Christmas Eve. He had 
always returned from the forest laden with gifts for his little crippled 
sister who sat all day by the window. Now the king had proclaimed 
that each child must gather gifts only for himself. Inge knew his 
little sister could not go a step into the forest. After thinking care¬ 
fully, he decided it would not be wrong to take all his gifts for his 
sister. The king could not object if he took nothing for himself. 
The chimes struck ten, and the children trooped out toward the 
forest. When they came to the edge of the wood they separated, 
though there was now no reason for any secrets. They looked 
everywhere, searching high and low, and wandering far into the 
forest, but they could find no presents hanging from the branches of 
the trees. Coming together they stood about crying out bitterly that 
there had never been such a Christmas Eve before. No one could 
guess whether Grandfather Christmas had forgotten them or whether 
some dreadful accident had kept him away. 

As the children were going sadly home, they came upon Inge 
with a bag full of presents. He called out to them, “ These are 
beautiful toys. Grandfather Christmas was never so good to us be¬ 
fore.” “ Why, what do you mean ? ” cried the children. “ There are 
no presents in the forest.” “ No presents?” laughed Inge. “ I have 
my bag full.” He pointed to the forest, shouting merrily, “ I left 
many more than I brought away. There they are, shining on the 
trees ! ” Then he ran away home to his little sister. The children 
still saw nothing on the trees and thought Inge must be dreaming. 
Surely there were no presents in the forest. 


TELLING STORIES 


165 


Christmas Day there was sadness throughout the Great Walled 
Country, for only in the house of Inge and his little sister was there 
any Christmas joy. When the other children saw beautiful new toys 
about the little girl’s chair, they could not believe that they had 
come from the Christmas forest. 

The king sent messengers the next day to Grandfather Christmas 
to find out what was the matter. As Grandfather Christmas always 
slept one hundred days after his Christmas work, the messengers had 
great trouble in wakening him. When at last he sat up in bed, rub¬ 
bing his eyes, the messengers cried out, “ Oh, sir, the king has sent 
us to ask why you forgot us and left no presents in the forest.” 

Grandfather Christmas answered sternly, “ I never forget. The 
presents were there. You did not see them.” When they told him 
how they had searched, Grandfather Christmas asked gently, “ And 
did Inge find nothing ? You could not see the presents, for you were 
seeking only to get something for yourselves. Inge found them be¬ 
cause he sought for something to give to his little sister. Our old 
Christmas custom had a beautiful meaning the wise traveler did not 
understand. Go away now and let me finish my nap.” 

The messengers returned sadly to the king. The words of Grand¬ 
father Christmas were kept a secret from the children of the land, 
but ever afterward the Christmas proclamation commanded them to 
seek gifts for others in the old way in the Christmas-tree forest. So 
the Christmas joy returned to the Great Walled Country. 

Adapted from “ In the Great Walled Country ,” in “ Why the Chimes Rang and Other 
Storiesby Raymond McDonald Alden. Published by Bobbs Merrill Co., Indianapolis. 

Outline for Studying the Story. 

I. Introduction :—The first paragraph of the story. 

II. The Christmas customs in the Great Walled Country. 

1. Grandfather Christmas a neighbor—pleasant understanding about presente. 

2. In the Christmas-tree forest the day before Christmas. 

3. Christmas Eve in the forest gathering gifts for their friends. 

III. The coming of the stranger, his new plan and the new proclamation. 

1. Wise old man—invited to palace,—hears of Christmas customs—suggests a better way. 

2. The King’s new proclamation and the eagerness of the people. 

IV. Christmas Eve at the palace. 

1. Carols and greetings—departure to search for gifts. 

V. Inge’s sadness and his decision. 

1. His little sister a cripple—no gifts for her—eaoh child must gather toys for himself. 

VI. The vain search in the forest. 

1. No presents hanging from the trees. 

VII. Inge’s bag full of gifts, and their further disappointment. 

VIII. Christmas Day—sadness except in Inge’s house. 

IX. The messengers to Grandfather Christmas. 

X. The meaning of the old Christmas custom. 

1. “ Old Christmas custom has a beautiful meaning the wise man never knew.” 

XI. Conclusion : The return to the King. Christmas returned to the Great Walled Country, 


1G6 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


The Mayflower 

In almost every part of our country some spring flower is known 
to boys and girls as “ The Mayflower.” But the really truly May¬ 
flower, the flower that was first called by that name, by the Pilgrims 
at Plymouth, is the Trailing Arbutus. It blooms some years as early 
as March. 

After that first long hard “ Winter of Death,” somebody found in 
the woods, not far from the settlement, this beautiful flower. It was 
so rosy-white and so sweet, and brought such hope to the Pilgrims, 
that they came to love it better than any other flower. 

Do you remember it in Longfellow’s word picture of John Alden 
taking the Captain’s offer of marriage to Priscilla in the “ Courtship 
of Miles Standish ” ? 

So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on his errand ; 

Crossing the brook at the ford, where it brawled over pebble and shallow, 
Gathering still, as he went, the Mayflowers blooming around him, 

Fragrant, filling the air with a strange and wonderful sweetness, 

Children, lost in the woods, and covered with leaves in their slumber. 

“ Puritan flowers,’ 7 he said, u and type of the Puritan maidens, 

Modest and simple and sweet, the very type of Priscilla ! 

So will I take them to her; to Priscilla the Mayflower of Plymouth. 

The real name of the flower is Trailing Arbutus. Boys and girls 
who live in the open country between Newfoundland and Cape Cod 
on the east, and Saskatchewan and Wisconsin on the west, and 
southward along the mountains through Kentucky and down to 
Florida, are likely to have seen the arbutus in bloom. But boys 
and girls everywhere should know how it looks, because of what 
Longfellow said about it, if for no other reason. 

The leaves are stiff and shiny, and grow on rough stems close to 
the ground. The flowers are uneven stars with blunt points, and 
so sweet that one smells them in the woods long before he can see 
where they are growing. 

“ The blush of the arbutus in the midst of the bleak March woods 
will touch your heart like a hope of Heaven in the midst of graves,” 
once said Donald G. Mitchell, a man who dearly loved these stars. 
For each lovely charming face Like the Mayflower, smiling sweet 

God be praised ! Its flower-like grace Through the coarse leaves at our feet, 
Brightens many a dreary place. First of all the flowers we greet. 

. —Minnie Curtis Wait 


TELLING STORIES 


167 


The Legend of the Mayflower or Trailing Arbutus 

Many moons ago in a lodge on the south shore of Lake Superior 
lived an old, old man named Manito the Mighty. Winter was over 
all the land, snow and ice were everywhere. The wind went raging, 
seeking in the trees and bushes for little birds to chill and chasing 
the evil spirits over hill and dale. 

Manito crouched low before his dying fire and tried to keep 
himself warm. At last he raised himself slowly and went out and 
sought long and vainly in the deep snow for wood with which to 
feed his fire. Then he went back again to the lodge, and crouching 
low before the ashes, cried out to Mannabooshoo that he might not 
perish. 

Just then a gust of wind blew open the door and looking up he 
saw standing there in the doorway a tall, beautiful maiden. Her 
hair was black as a raven's wing and so long that it touched the 
ground as she walked ; her eyes were all bright and shining like the 
eyes of a fawn at night; her cheeks were like wild roses; her dress 
was made of grasses and sweet ferns; in her hand were willow 
buds; and her moccasins were made of white lilies. As she stood 
in the doorway breathing, the air in the lodge grew warmer and 
warmer. 

The old man said to her, “ Enter, my daughter, sit here by my 
side; at least there is shelter from the cruel blasts. By and by I 
will tell you of my exploits." He smoked for a while in silence, 
but after the smoke had warmed his tongue he said slowly, “ I am 
Manito the Mighty; when I shake my locks, snow covers all the 
earth." 

She smiled sweetly at him and answered, “ When I shake my 
curls, rain falls on the soft earth." 

The old man frowned that she had dared to answer him. He 
went on, “ When I walk abroad the animals go into their holes, the 
birds fly away to the southland, the flowers lie down and die,—and 
death and desolation are everywhere." 

The maiden replied, “And when I walk abroad the animals come 
out of their holes, the birds come back from the southland and sing, 
the flowers lift up their heads and bloom,—and warmth and sunshine 
and music are everywhere." 

All this time it had been growing warmer and warmer in the 


168 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

lodge and the old man's head fell forward on his breast and he slept. 
Just then a bluebird came to the roof of the lodge and sang, “Say-e-e, 
Say-e, I am thirsty.” The river answered from the valley below, 
“Come and drink of me, I am free, at last I am free.” And away 
flew the bluebird to the river. 

The maiden arose and stood before the old man, waving the 
willow branches back and forth above his head. He began to grow 
smaller and smaller, until there was nothing left where he had been 
but a little cluster of green leaves. She knelt down beside the green 
leaves and took out of the bosom of her dress some pretty little pink 
and white blossoms. She tucked the blossoms underneath the leaves, 
and said softly, “ I give you of my greatest virtues and breathe upon 
you my sweetest breath. Henceforth all who would pick you must 
do so on bended knee.” 

She arose slowly and went away out of the lodge, over the hill 
and through the wood. Wherever she stepped, and nowhere else in 
all the world, grows the Trailing Arbutus. 

-—Adapted from Emilie Poulsson's “In the Child World. I. 11 III. IV. 

I. Introduction — 

1. Many moons ago, in a lodge on the south shore of Lake 
Superior, lived an old, old man named Manito the Mighty. 

2. The setting—winter, snow, ice, and wind. 

II. Manito’s sufferings— 

1. Crouching low before dying fire. 

2. Searching vainly for wood. 

3. Returning to the lodge and crouching before the ashes, crying 
out to Mannabooshoo. 

III. Hair—black as the raven’s wing—eyes like eyes of a fawn at 
night—cheeks like wild roses—dress made of grasses and sweet 
fern—willow buds in her hands—moccasins made of white lilies. 

IV. Manito’s boasting and the Maiden’s replies — 

1. His invitation—“ Enter, my daughter, sit here by my side— 
shelter from the cruel blast—tell you of my exploits.” 

2. His boasting. “ I am Manito the Mighty, when I shake my 
locks, snow covers all the earth.” 

Her reply, “When I shake my curls, rain falls on the soft 
earth.” 


3. 


TELLING STORIES 


169 


4. His boasting, “ When I walk abroad the animals go into their 
holes, the birds fly away to the southward, the flowers lie 
down and die,—death and desolation are everywhere.” 

5. Her answer, “ When I walk abroad the animals come out of 
their holes, the birds come back from the southland, the 
flowers lift up their heads and bloom—warmth and sunshine 
and music are everywhere.” 

V. The coming of the bluebird. 

1. Warmer in the lodge,—old man sleeps. 

2. Bluebird comes. “ Say-e-e, I am thirsty.” 

3. River calls, 11 Come, and drink of me, I am free, at last I am 
free.” 

VI. The disappearance of the old man and the coming of the leaves. 

1. Maiden waves willow branches. 

2. He grows smaller and smaller—disappears. 

3. A little cluster of green leaves comes. 

VII. The blessing of the flowers. 

Placing pretty little pink and white blossoms underneath the 
leaves she blessed them saying, “ I give you of my greatest 
virtue and breathe upon you with my sweetest breath. 
Henceforth all who would pick you must do so on bended 
knee.” 

VIII. Conclusion. 

She went away out of the lodge, over the hill and through the 
wood. Wherever she stepped, and nowhere else in all this 
world, grows the Trailing Arbutus. 

This Indian story is a series of pictures. Shut your eyes and try 
to see them. Enter into the feeling of each picture. Sympathize 
with the old man’s suffering. Enjoy the beauty of the maiden. 
Hear them talk together and understand how each feels. Watch 
the old man as he grows drowsy and finally sleeps. After he disap¬ 
pears see her place the flowers. You will see she loves them very 
much. If you have ever picked trailing arbutus, you know that one 
must pick it on bended knee. 

You will notice that the description of the maiden begins at the top 
of her head and goes to her feet. This will be easy to remember. 

Who is the old man and maiden ? What does the story mean ? 


170 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Hidden Meanings to Letters 

Some people have their initials printed at the top of the paper on 
which they write letters; perhaps your mother does. She will tell 
you that it is her Monogram that is on the paper. If you look in 
Webster’s big dictionary for the word, “ monogram,” you will find 
beside it a picture of a very old monogram that was used hundreds 
of years ago by a great and powerful king called Charlemagne. 
Many famous men and women have used monograms and great 
artists have liked to design them. Some monograms are very easy 
to read and others are truly puzzles. Sometimes one letter hides 
another so well that it takes a long time to find it. Did you ever 
hear of Queen Elizabeth of England? She had a monogram made 
of nine letters, all the letters in her name! These letters were fitted 
together so well that the whole nine could be printed in the space 
usually needed for three. 









TELLING STORIES 


m 


Why the Sea Is Salt 

Many hundreds of years ago away over in Norway there lived 
two brothers. One was called Elder Brother, the other was called 
Younger Brother. Elder Brother was very rich, but Younger 
Brother was very poor. He was so poor that sometimes the children 
didn't have anything to eat. Sometimes they didn’t have any shoes 
and stockings and his wife had never had a silk dress. 

One morning they didn’t have anything at all in the house to 
eat and Younger Brother went up to Elder Brother’s house to ask 
for some food. Elder Brother was all out of patience with him, and 
cried out, “ Here, take this bacon and go down below I ” Younger 
Brother took the bacon under bis arm and started down hill. That 
is always the way to begin to go down below. After a time he came 
to a little hut on the hillside. Sitting by the door was an old man 
with a long white beard. This old man looked up at him and said 
mysteriously, “ Where are you going, Younger Brother?" “I am 
going down below." “ Younger Brother," whispered the old man, 
“ when you get down below, all the people of down below will want 
that bacon, but don't you let them have it. When the master of 
down below asks you for the bacon, let him have it in exchange for 
the little mill that is behind the door." 

Younger Brother went on down below. Just as the old man had 
said, all the little people came around him clamoring for the bacon, 
but he wouldn’t let them have it. When the master of down below 
asked him for the bacon, he let him have it in exchange for the little 
mill that was behind the door. 

Younger Brother put the little mill under his arm and started 
up hill. When he came to the little house on the hillside, the old 
man said to him, “ Did you get it? " “Yes." “ Did they tell you 
anything about it?" “No." “Younger Brother, your fortune is 
made! That mill is a magic mill! Take it home, put it on the 
table, say to it 4 Little Mill, grind—' anything you want, and out it 
will come. When you have all you want of any one thing, whisper 
into the mill these words." Then he told him the secret words that 
would stop the little mill, but I can’t tell you what they were because 
they were a secret. 

Younger Brother went home as fast as he could go and put the 
little mill on the table. First of all he asked for bread and butter 


172 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


for his children. Out it came, two slices apiece all around and one 
to put away in the closet for by and by. Then he whispered the 
secret words that stopped the little mill. Next he asked for shoes 
and stockings for his children and out they came, two pairs apiece 
all around, one for every day and one for Sunday. After that he 
asked for a silk dress for his wife. Out it came—so stiff that it 
stood right up alone! That was all he wanted for one day. 

Another day he got out the little mill. First he wanted more 
land. Out it came in great square pieces that he fitted together and 
laid down flat. Then he wanted more barns. Out they came, one 
after another. These he set up in a row on the edge of his new land. 
Last of all he wanted more cattle. Out they came and he drove 
them up to his new barns. 

When Elder Brother heard about Younger Brother's riches, he 
went down to see him about it. He began to scold roundly, “ How 
does this happen? You were so poor the other day that I had 
to give you food and now you are richer than I." Younger 
Brother told him about the little mill, but he didn't tell him quite 
all about it. 

When Elder Brother asked to borrow the mill, Younger Brother 
let him have it. Elder Brother took the little mill home and put 
it up on a shelf in the closet. When one may have anything he 
wants, it isn’t easy to think just what to ask for first, so Elder 
Brother couldn’t think what to ask for from his little mill. 

One day he was down in the field with his men. He had always 
been very unwilling to give his men time at noon to eat dinner. 
One day he thought, “ This is just the time I I’ll bring that little 
mill down here and grind out porridge for my men.” The little 
mill was brought. “ Grind porridge for my men, little mill, and 
grind it quickly.” Out came the porridge until all the bowls were 
filled. The Elder Brother cried, “That will do, little mill, that will 
do. Stop 1 stop! ” But the little mill did not stop. When the 
porridge began to run out all over the field, and out into the lanes 
both sides of the field, Elder Brother swam over through that por¬ 
ridge to where Younger Brother lived and brought Younger Brother 
back with him. Younger Brother whispered the secret words that 
would stop the little mill. Then he took the mill under his arm 
and swam home through the porridge. After he had washed the 


TELLING STORIES 


173 


porridge off of himself and the little mill, he asked for still greater 
riches. Last of all, out came a great beautiful house. This was all 
he wanted and he put the little mill away. 

About that time a sea captain came home from a long voyage. 
He was boasting down at the port of all the wonderful things he had 
seen. Some of the people said, “ You should see Younger Brother’s 
little mill ! ” The captain went immediately to visit Younger 
Brother. There he learned about the little mill, but not quite all 
about it. When the sea captain asked to borrow the little mill, 
Younger Brother let him take it. He took it down, and put it on 
board the ship and set off on another voyage. I don’t know whether 
Younger Brother knew that he was going off on another voyage or 
not, but at any rate off he went. 

The first few days when people are out at sea they don't want 
very much, so they didn’t think about the little mill for some time. 
They discovered one day they had no salt on board. “Just the 
thing,” said the captain ; “ we’ll try that little mill.” He had the 
box brought and placed before the mill. “ Grind salt, little mill, 
and grind it quickly.” Out poured the salt and soon the box was 
filled. “ That will do, little mill—Stop! stop ! ” cried the captain. 
But the little mill did not stop. Out poured the salt until all the 
deck was covered. The captain cried, “ Stop ! stop! little mill.” 
But the little mill did not stop. The salt began to go down into 
the hold of the ship and at last the ship began to sink. Then there 
wasn’t anything to do but to throw that little mill overboard. 

And there it is at the bottom of the sea, grinding salt to this day. 

Directions for Telling the Story 

We find this same story that tells us why the sea is salt told 
under many different names in many different ways. Your teacher 
and your librarian will be glad to help you find some of them. 
Read them and see which you like the best. 

In studying the story make a list of the people, the places, the 
conversations, and the happenings. Choose some of the words and 
groups of words that you like and plan to use them. Write the 
names of the pictures you see in this story and learn the order in 
which they come. Then tell the story in your own words. Tell it 
many times and you will grow to like it better and better and to 
make other people enjoy it also, 


174 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Something to Recite 


The Blue and the Gray 


By the flow of the inland river, 
Whence the fleets of iron have fled, 
Where the blades of the grave grass 
quiver, 

Asleep are the ranks of the dead :— 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day ; 

Under the one, the Blue, 

Under the other, the Gray. 


These in the robings of glory, 

Those in the gloom of defeat, 

All with the battle blood gory, 

In the dusk of eternity meet:— 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day ; 

Under the laurel, the Blue, 

Under the willow, the Gray. 

From the silence of sorrowful hours 
The desolate mourners go, 

Lovingly laden with flowers, 

Alike for the friend and the foe :— 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day ; 

Under the roses, the Blue, 

Under the lilies, the Gray. 

So with an equal splendor, 

The morning sun-rays fall, 

With a touch impartially tender, 

On the blossoms bloomiug for all:— 
Under the sod and the dew, 


Waiting the judgment day ; 
Broidered with gold, the Blue, 
Mellowed with gold, the Gray. 

So when the summer calleth 
On forest and field of grain, 

With an equal murmur falleth 
The cooling drip of the rain :— 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Wet with the rain, the Blue, 

Wet with the rain, the Gray. 

Sadly, but not with upbraiding, 

The generous deed was done ; 

In the storm of the years that are 
fading 

No braver battle was won :— 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day ; 

Under the blossoms, the Blue, 

Under the garlands, the Gray. 

No more shall the war cry sever 
Or the winding rivers be red ; 

They banish our anger forever, 

When they laurel the graves of our 
dead,— 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waitiug the judgment day ; 

Love and tears for the Blue, 

Tears and love for the Gray. 

—Francis M. Finch. 



TELLING STORIES 


175 


Johnny Cake 

Adapted f rom Joseph Jacobs , Old English Folk Tales 

Once upon a time a little old man, a little old woman, and a 
little boy lived together in a little old house. 

One morning the little old woman made for herself a Johnny 
Cake and put it in the oven to bake. She said to the little boy, 
“ Watch that Johnny Cake, and don’t let it burn. I’m going out 
into the garden with the little old man to hoe potatoes.” 

The little boy sat down by the fire and watched the Johnny 
Cake for a while, but after a time he fell to dreaming. Suddenly 
the oven door popped open. Out rolled Johnny Cake, across the 
floor, down the steps and out into the road and after him went run¬ 
ning the little boy. As he ran, he called out to the little old man 
and the little old woman out in the garden. They threw down their 
hoes and went running after Johnny Cake as fast as they could go 
until they were all out of breath and had to sit down by the roadside 
to rest. 

On ran Johnny Cake, until he came to a place where two men 
were digging a ditch by the side of the road. They cried out to 
him, “ Where are you going, Johnny Cake? Come over here, we 
want to eat you.” 

Johnny Cake answered, “ I’ve outrun a little old man, a little 
old woman, and a boy, and I can outrun you too-oo-oo-oo-oo ! ” 

“ You can, can you ? ” shouted the two ditch-diggers ; “ we’ll see 
about that.” They threw down their spades and went running 
after Johnny Cake as fast as they could go until they were all out 
of breath and had to sit down by the roadside to rest. 

On ran Johnny Cake. By and by he came to a place where two 
men were digging a well. The two well-diggers cried out, “ Where 
are you going, Johnny Cake? Come over here, we want to eat you.” 

Johnny Cake answered, “ I’ve outrun a little old man, a little 
old woman, a little boy, and two ditch-diggers and I can outrun you 
too-oo-oo-oo-oo ! ” 

“ You can, can you ? ” shouted the two well-diggers ; “ we’ll see 
about that.” They threw down their picks and went running after 
Johnny Cake as fast as they could go, until they were all out of 
breath and had to sit down by the roadside to rest. 


176 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

On ran Johnny Cake, until he came to a bear. The bear called 
out, “ Where are you going, Johnny Cake ? Come over here, I want 
to eat you.” 

Johnny Cake answered, “ I’ve outrun a little old man, a little 
old woman, a little boy, two ditch-diggers, and two well-diggers, 
and I can outrun you too-oo-oo-oo-oo ! ” 

“ You can, can you ? ” growled the bear. “ I'll see about that.” 
Then he trundled after Johnny Cake as fast as he could go until 
he was all out of breath and had to sit down by the roadside to rest. 

On ran Johnny Cake, until he met a wolf. The wolf called out, 
“ Where are you going, Johnny Cake ? Come over here, I want to 
eat you.” 

Johnny Cake answered, “ I've outrun a little old man, a little 
old woman, a little boy, two ditch-diggers, two well-diggers, and a 
bear, and I can outrun you too-oo-oo-oo-oo! ” 

“ You can, can you ? ” snarled the wolf. “ I’ll see about that.” 
Then he went running after Johnny Cake as fast as he could go 
until he was all out of breath and had to sit down by the roadside 
to rest. 

On ran Johnny Cake until he came to a place where a fox was 
lying in the corner of a field. The fox called out, “ Where are you 
going, Johnny Cake? Come over here, I want to eat you.” 

Johnny Cake answered, “ I’ve outrun a little old man, a little 
old woman, a little boy, two ditch-diggers, two well-diggers, a bear, 
and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-oo-oo-oo-oo ! ” 

The fox called, “ What’s that you say ? Come a little nearer, 
I can’t quite hear you.” For the first time Johnny Cake stopped 
running and went up close to the fox and shouted, “ I’ve outrun a 
little old man, a little old woman, a little boy, two ditch-diggers, two 
well-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-oo-oo-oo! ” 
The fox raised his head and answered, “ What’s that you say ? 
Come a little closer, I can’t quite hear you.” Johnny Cake went 
right up close to the fox and shouted into his face, “ I’ve outrun a little 
old man, a little old woman, a little boy, two ditch-diggers, two well- 
diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-oo-oo-oo ! ” 

The fox yelped, “You can, can you? I’ll see about that.” 
Then the fox snapped open his jaws in the twinkling of an eye— 
and that was the end of Johnny Cake ! 


TELLING STORIES 


177 


Suggestions for Telling 

Little children love stories like Johnny Cake because the same words are re¬ 
peated so many times that they seem like old friends. Let those of us who are 
studying these stories in Something to Do so that we may be better story-tellers, 
learn this story to tell to some of our little friends. Let us first make a list of all 
the characters in the story—a little old man, a little old woman, a little boy, two 
ditch-diggers, two well-diggers, a bear, a wolf, a fox, and Johnny Cake. 

A list of the places spoken of will help us to remember what happens (1) in a 
little old house, (2) out into the garden, (3) by the fire, (4) across the floor, down 
the steps and out into the road, (5) down by the roadside, (6) by the side of the 
road, (7) in the corner of a field. 

The different people and animals all say the same words to Johnny Cake, so 
that part is easy to learn—“ Where are you going, Johnny Cake? Come over 
here, I want to eat you. ” 

Every time Johnny Cake answers in the same way, beginning “I’ve out¬ 
run -” adding one more every time, and ending with his boast, “ And I can 

outrun you too-oo-oo-oo ! ” Think how you would say the “ too-oo-oo-oo ” if you 
were calling it out to some playmate, boasting of something you could do. 

Each time the answer comes, “ You can, can you ? I (or we’ll) see about that.” 
“ On ran Johnny Cake ” comes in again and again. Each character in the story 
“ went running after him as fast as he could go until he was all out of breath and 
had to sit down by the roadside to rest.” 

The movement of this story is very important. Nothing stands still and we 
must keep things going fast. Faster and faster they go like one great race, until 
Johnny Cake stops to talk to the fox. Then the fox plays a trick on Johnny Cake 
and the end of the story is a surprise—“ And that was the end of Johnny Cake ! ” 

The story will almost tell itself when we have learned the different parts so 
often repeated. 

As you read this story, some of you will think of “The Gingerbread Man” 
and “ The Pancake,” two stories that are very much like it. You will see that 
some of your old favorites, “ The Old Woman and Her Pig,” “The Three Bears,” 
and “ The Three Little Pigs,” are all repetition tales like this one and are just the 
right kind of story to tell to little children. 

If some of you know “Johnny Cake” maybe you will like to learn to tell 
“ The Pancake” from the outline which follows : 

I. Introduction. Once upon a time there was a woman who had seven hungry 
children. One morning she was frying a sweet milk pancake for them, and it lay 
there in the pan bubbling and frizzling so thick and good it was a delight to look 
upon. The children stood around about and the father sat by and looked on. 

II. The children begged for a bit. One child said, “ Oh, give me a bit of 
pancake, mother dear, I am so hungry.” The second begged, “Oh, darling 
mother!” “Oh, darling, good mother,” said the third—“ Oh, darling, good, 
sweet mother,” said the fourth—“Oh, darling, pretty, good, sweet mother,” said 
the fifth—“ Oh, darling, pretty, good, sweet, clever mother,” said the sixth—“ Oh, 
darling, pretty, good, sweet, clever, kindest little mother,” said the seventh, each 



178 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


one more prettily, for they were so hungry and so good. The mother answered, 
“ Yes, yes, children, only bide a bit till it turns itself, ”—instead of Til I get it 
turned—“ and then you shall have some lovely, sweet milk pancake—only look 
how fat and happy it lies there.” 

III. The pancake became afraid and ran away. In a trice—turned itself and 
tried to jump out—fell back—other side up—firm and stiff, jumped out, rolled 
like a wheel through the door and down the hill. 

IY. All ran after it—mother with frying pan ladle—all the children—father 
on crutches limped behind. All screamed, < ‘ Hull oa ! Stop, Pancake ! Hi! Won’t 
you stop ? Stop, Pancake ! ’ ’ Pancake rolled on and on and in a twinkling of an 
eye was so far ahead they couldn’t see it. 

Y. Pancake rolled a while and met a man. The man said, “ Good-day, Pan¬ 
cake.” The Pancake answered, “Good-day, Manny Panny.” The man said, 
“ Dear Pancake, don’t roll so fast; stop a little and let me eat you.” The Pan¬ 
cake cried, “No, no, I have run away from the mother, the father, and seven 
hungry children—I’ll run away from you, Manny Panny.” 

YI. Pancake rolled and rolled aud met a hen, “ Good-day, Pancake.” “ The 
same to you, Henny Penny”—“Pancake, dear, don’t roll so fast, bide a bit and 
let me eat you up.” “ No, no, I’ve run away from the father, the mother, seven 
hungry children, and Manny Panny. I’ll run away from you, too, Henny Penny.” 

VII. Pancake rolled and rolled like a wheel down the road and met a cock. 
Same conversation as in YI, adding—“Henny Penny—and I’ll run away from 
you, too, Cocky Locky.” 

VIII. Pancake rolled and rolled as fast as it could and by and by met a 
ducky. Same conversation to Ducky Lucky. 

IX. Pancake rolled faster than ever and when it had rolled a long while, it 
met a goose. Same conversation to Goosey Poosey. 

X. Pancake rolled a long, long time and met a pig. The pig said, “ Good- 
day, Pancake.” “The same to you, Piggy Wiggy,” and without a word more 
the pancake began to roll and roll for dear life. “Nay, nay, Pancake; you 
needn’t be in such a hurry ; we two can go side by side through the wood ; they 
say it is not safe in there.” Might be something in it—kept company—brook— 
pig fat—poor Pancake. “Seat yourself on my snout and I’ll carry you over,” 
said the pig. So the pancake did that. The pig said, “ Ouf, Ouf,” and swallowed 
the pancake at one gulp. As the poor pancake could go no farther, why this 
story could go no farther, either. 

Do You Know Your Own Name ? 

Names are very interesting thiugs and most people do not think as much of 
them as they should. If you can find a big dictionary, at home or at school, 
turn to the back part and there you will find a list of names and their meanings. 

People’s names aren’t the only interesting ones, though. What about month’s 
names? Do you ever wonder about them? The month, for instance, January, 
was named after a Roman god, Janus, who had two faces. Can you guess why 
they named the first month of the year after him ? Is it like this: The first of 
January one is sure to glance back and to look forward ? 


TELLING STORIES 


179 


The Pony Engine 

The engineer had just started his freight train up the mountain 
when his engine broke down. The train was loaded with toys for 
the children’s Christmas in the city over in the next valley. Now 
the engine had broken down and the engineer feared he could not 
get the toys to the children in time. 

This was a very fortunate place, however, for the engine to break 
down, for right there at the foot of the mountain was a roundhouse. 
The engineer made his way to the roundhouse to find an engine to 
take the toys over the mountain, that the children might not be 
disappointed. 

There stood a great, powerful, passenger engine, puffing and 
panting in its pride. It had come in only a short time before from 
pulling a Pullman train that had come from across the continent, 
and it was very proud of its work. 

The engineer looked up at the engine and said aloud, “ That 
engine would make quick work of getting the toys over the moun¬ 
tain to the children.” But the engine heard him and drew itself up 
scornfully and said, “ I’ve done — My Work ! I’ve done — My Work ! 
I’ve done — My Work ! ” 

The engineer knew that it would not do to take that unwilling 
engine, even to take toys to the children. 

Near by stood a great strong freight engine. It had just made 
quick time with a load of valuable perishable freight and it was very 
much puffed up with pride. 

The engineer cried out, “ Ah, this is much better. This engine 
would surely get the toys to the children in time ! ” 

The freight engine was even more indignant than the passenger 
engine and puffed out rudely, “ I’ve been Out To-day ! I’ve been 
Out To-day ! I’ve been Out To-day ! ” 

The engineer knew that it would not do to take that unwilling 
engine even to take toys to the children. 

Around on the other side of the roundhouse was a little pony 
engine that was used to shunt freight cars around the yard. It had 
never been very far out of the yard, but it had one great ambition. 
It wanted to climb the mountain and look over on the other side. 
It had been listening to the other engines and now it began to sigh 
sadly : 


180 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


“ I wish he’d take me ! I wish he’d take me! I wish he’d take 
me ! ” 

As the engineer drew nearer, the little engine seemed almost to 
lean over and to urge, 

“ Take me l Take me! Take me! ” 

As there seemed to be nothing else to do, the engineer climbed 
up into the cab, steamed the pony engine out of the roundhouse and 
coupled it to his trainload of toys. He called out eagerly to the little 
engine, “ Do you think you can do it, little engine? ” 

It was the hardest work the pony engine had ever tried to do, 
but it answered bravely, 

“ I think I can! I think—I can! I think—I can! ” 

Up the mountainside it went, slowly, steadily, keeping its courage 
up with its song, 

“ I think I can! I think I can ! I think —I can ! ” 

Up it toiled, struggling, panting, 

“ I think —I can ! I think —I can! I think —I can ! I think —I 
can! ” until at last it came to the top of the mountain. There it 
stopped to look over on the other side. Suddenly it remembered the 
children waiting for the toys. 

Down the other side of the mountain it started, singing as it 
went, 

“ I thought I could! I thought I could! I thought I could! I 
thought I could ! ” 

Faster and faster it went singing all the way, until it came down 
into the freight yard,—and the children had their toys in time. 

Suggestions for Telling the Story 

Let us see first what happens in this story. Let us find just what 
the different speakers say that we may quote them correctly. Let 
us choose out of the story some words that we like better than our 
own words. All these we will put into an outline that we may see 
the different parts of the story that we may learn it more easily. 

Every story needs a good beginning to make people listen right 
away. Things must happen and happen fast. We must make our 
listeners know when we come to the most exciting place in the story. 
We must decide just how to end the story because it is a good plan 
to stop when we are through, 


TELLING STOMES 


181 


After you have read the story several times, study the outline and 
learn the story from the outline. 

I. Introduction. 

1. The engineer had just started his freight train up the moun¬ 

tain when his engine broke down. 

2. The engineer’s anxiety about the children’s toys. 

3. The roundhouse fortunately near. 

II. The big passenger engine. 

1. Great, puffing and panting in its pride. 

2. Engineer said aloud, “ That engine would make quick work 

of getting the toys over the mountain to the children ! ” 

3. Engine drew itself up scornfully,— “I've Done—My Work” 

etc. 

III. The freight engine. 

1. Strong engine puffed up with pride. 

2. Engineer cried out, “ Ah, this is much better. This engine 

would surely get the toys to the children in time.” 

3. The freight engine answered rudely,—“ I've Been Out To¬ 

day!” etc. 

4. Engineer knew such an unwilling engine would be no help. 

IV. The pony engine. 

1. It sighed sadly—“ I wish he'd take me! ” etc. 

2. As engineer came near, it urged, “ Take me! Take me! 

Take me!” 

V. Hard ivork for the pony engine. 

1. Engineer took engine, coupled it to his train and started up 

the mountain. 

2. He asked, “ Do you think you can do it, little engine? ” 

3. Engine answered bravely, “ I think — I can! ” etc. 

4. It struggled up the mountain—“I think —I can!” etc., all 

the way. 

5. The top of the mountain. 

VI. Going down the mountain. 

1. Singing faster and faster—“ I thought I could! ” etc. 

2. Down into the freight yard. 

VII. Conclusion. 

And the children had their toys in time. 

The telling of this story will be great fun, but before we can do it 


182 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


well so that people will really know what we are talking about, we 
must become really intimate with engines. We must listen to them 
and we shall be very much surprised to hear them saying “ I think 
I can ! ” often as they pull heavy loads. As they go off faster and 
faster they will fairly shout back, “ I thought I could ! I thought I 
could ! I thought I could ! ” almost laughing at you as the pony 
engine did. 

That we may sound as much like engines as possible, it will help 
to prolong some of the sounds in the words. In “ I’ve Been out To¬ 
day ”—let us make the n sound strong and long, remembering 
that the engine is heavy and angry. Remember, too, that the n 
sound is made with lips apart, teeth apart, tip of tongue touching 
roof of mouth behind front teeth, voice going up and out through 
the nose. In “ I’ve Done My Work ” make the n in Done strong in 
the same way. There are two such strong sounds in “ I think I can .” 
In “ I thought I could,” there is an excellent chance to discover how 
well we know how to use the phonics we learned in the primary 
grades and to make the tongue do all the work it should with the 
t and the d sounds. Make the tongue fairly dance as that engine 
goes faster and faster. 

You have discovered, I know, by this time in your story telling 
that people like to listen better when your face shows you like the 
story, when your voice is pleasant, and when you talk with your 
mouth open and with the tip of your tongue doing all its work well 
instead of lying lazily in the mouth. It is good for us to know that 
all we learned in phonics helps us not only to read well, but also to 
talk well. 

If you try hard and are painstaking with your Story Telling, 
you will really be learning. Do Father and Mother and the chil¬ 
dren listen to you ? 

You will be interested to find another engine story told somewhat 
differently in “ The Little Steam Engine,” in the Riverside Second 
Reader, and “ The Royal Engine ” in a book called “ The Golden 
Goblet,” by Jay T. Stocking. Ask Father or Mother or your teacher 
to read you the wonderful engine story by Rudyard Kipling called 
“ 007 ” from his book called, “ The Day’s Work.” 

Listen to all the engines you hear. They may have a new story 
for you to tell some day. 


TELLING STORIES 


183 


Dosia’s Easter Roses 

Dosia was a little nine-year-old girl who lived with her Aunt 
Madeline. Aunt Madeline’s own little girls and boys kept her so 
very busy that Dosia very often felt as if she herself didn’t belong 
to anybody. The morning of the day before Easter, Dosia sat out 
on the back steps in the sunshine, hemming a towel. She did wish 
Aunt Madeline would buy narrower towels. As she sewed, she 
talked to herself as she often did when she was alone. “ How I do 
wish money grew on bushes I ” she said. Only that morning she 
had asked Aunt Madeline for ten cents to buy a cluster of flowers. 
Aunt Madeline, who had been kept awake by the baby the night be¬ 
fore, had answered, “ Any one would think money grew on bushes! 
You are an ungrateful child. Haven’t I just bought you a new hat 
for Easter? Now, here you are asking me for ten cents ! ” 

To be sure, her new hat was beautiful! It was a very remarkable 
hat, because both the hat and the trimming were new, and that had 
never happened to Dosia before at the same time. Either the hat 
or the trimming was always old. 

Miss Eleanor, her Sunday-school teacher, had asked each child 
to bring a cluster of flowers on Easter. Then instead of the Sunday- 
school lesson, the whole class would take the flowers to the little 
sick children in the Children’s Hospital, on Easter morning. 

Dosia was very sure that if her sailor uncle would only come 
home, he would give her a quarter and that would buy a beautiful 
cluster. But he was not coming home, so she tried to plan some 
other way. Suddenly she put down her work and went to the 
florist’s on the corner to see if he had any bargains in flowers, but 
he didn’t seem to understand what she meant. “ Bargains in 
flowers, bargains in flowers, what are you talking about, child? 
Run away and don’t bother me! ” When she came home she was 
too unhappy to sew any more, so she tried to comfort herself by 
thinking about her new hat. It was brown with streamers, and 
right on the front were two beautiful white roses. “ I am so glad 
it has roses,” said Dosia, “ for roses are so satisfying.” 

At the dinner table Dosia asked, “ Aunt Madeline, do you sup¬ 
pose if people called me Theodosia, instead of Dosia, that I could 
have things and really belong like other girls? Theodosia Varnum 


184 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


is going to carry a cluster of La France roses to Miss Eleanor to¬ 
morrow for the little sick children.” 

But Aunt Madeline called out sharply, “ Whatever are you say¬ 
ing, child? ” There wasn’t much use in talking to Aunt Madeline ; 
she wouldn’t understand how much she wanted those flowers for the 
little sick children. 

The next morning was Easter morning. Dosia woke up early 
and heard the birds singing. She was sure she would have known 
it was Easter just by the feeling of the day and the color of sunshine. 

When she set out for Sunday-school, she knew all the people 
would be glad because her new hat was so beautiful. She had for¬ 
gotten about the cluster of flowers until she came to the door and 
saw all the children gathered about Miss Eleanor with the flowers 
in their hands. She would have turned then and run home if Miss 
Eleanor had not stretched out her hand to her and called, “'Here is 
a place for you, Dosia, right beside me.” Miss Eleanor kept tight 
hold of her hand even when they set off for the hospital. 

Inside the hospital were all the rows of little white beds with a 
little sick child in each one. Dosia thought every one of them 
looked as if he too “ didn’t belong” just like her. She watched 
their eyes brighten and the happy smiles come as they took the 
flowers in their little hands. She bore it as long as she could 
and then she fell behind the others and did the thing she had been 
struggling against ever since she first entered the hospital. She took 
off her hat and ripped off the two beautiful white roses. Quickly 
she stepped to one little sick girl and put one white rose into her 
hand, whispering, “It’s a rose, you know, and roses are so satisfying. 
Best of all, this rose will never fade and if you smell of it just right, 
it smells lovely.” 

Then she waited until she came to a very lonesome looking little 
boy. “ This is for you,” she said gently, “ and it will never fade, so 
you’ll never have to feel all alone again.” The little boy held it 
close to his cheek and Dosia was glad. 

Nearly all the way home she thought about their happy faces, 
and not until she came within sight of her home did she think of 
the bare spot on the front of her new hat. “ It doesn’t matter,” she 
said. “ I’ll tell Aunt Madeline I’ll wear it just as it is. I hope she 
won’t scold. I’ll wear it just as it is and I’ll try not to mind.” 


TELLING STORIES 


185 


When she went in, Aunt Madeline had just finished putting the 
baby to sleep and she sat there with him lying in her lap. Dosia 
thought quickly that she’d tell her right away, for she wouldn’t 
scold very much then because she wouldn’t want to wake the baby. 

She stood right in front of Aunt Madeline. “ Look,” she said. 
“ See what I have done to my hat. I had to do it, Aunt Madeline, 
because those two white roses were all the flowers I had to give. 
I’ll wear it just as it is and I’ll try hard not to mind. The little chil¬ 
dren were so glad, I’d rather have the bare spot on my hat than the 
roses.” Aunt Madeline looked at her and then reached out across the 
baby and took Dosia into her arms. “ Why, child, I didn’t know 
you wanted the flowers so much. I just thought it was a notion. 
Never mind, Dosia, I’ll get some more roses for your hat somehow.” 

Aunt Madeline patted her and loved her until Dosia drew back 
and cried out softly, “ Why, Aunt Madeline, you treat me just as if 
I really belonged and that is better than roses and everything.” 
“ Why, my little child, you’ve always belonged,” Aunt Madeline 
whispered. 

The new roses Aunt Madeline found for her were not so beautiful 
as the first ones, but Dosia remembered the smile of the little sick 
children and was glad. Best of all, now she was very happy because 
she knew she belonged. 

Adapted for telling from 11 Dosia 1 s Easter Roses,” by Annie Hamilton 
Donnell . 


Outline for Telling the Story 

Dosia’s Easter Roses is a story that almost tells itself, so it will 
be very easy for us to learn it. Let us first get acquainted with all 
the people in the story, sad little Dosia who felt as if she “ didn’t 
belong”; poor, tired Aunt Madeline who didn’t mean to be cross but 
who was kept awake nights by the baby; dear Miss Eleanor who 
tried to make it up to Dosia by loving attention ; the other little 
girls in the Sunday-school class; and the little sick children in the 
hospital who were so happy with the Easter flowers. 

I. Unhappy little Dosia on the back steps grieving because 
Aunt Madeline wouldn’t give her ten cents for the flowers. 

II. Her talk to Aunt Madeline at the dinner table, and Aunt 
Madeline’s impatience. 


186 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


III. Easter Sunday morning and the new hat. 

IV. Sunday-school and Miss Eleanor. 

V. The hospital, and the little sick children’s pleasure over 
the flowers. 

VI. Dosia’s gift of her white roses. 

VII. Her confession to Aunt Madeline and her happiness. 

Of course we must know just how Dosia felt all the way through 
the story. We must be sorry with her when she is sorry, and glad 
with her when she is glad. We must try to understand Aunt Made¬ 
line, too. We must know that Miss Eleanor wanted the children 
to bring the flowers on Easter Day that the little sick children might 
know some of the Easter joy. Dosia’s happiness over her sacrifice 
of the white roses is beautiful, for we all know how much she liked 
the new roses on her new hat. Greatest of all was her joy to find 
that Aunt Madeline really did love her and that she really did 
“ belong.” Bringing flowers to make the little sick children happy 
was a beautiful Easter offering, wasn’t it? 

Something to Recite 
A Long Road 

This road, that goes right by our door, 

Keeps on a hundred miles or more. 

Sometimes it’s just a country trail, 

And there’s a squirrel on the rail. 

Sometimes it’s made of silver sand 
And lined with trees on either hand ; 

And then it’s paved like city street, 

Where all the housetops almost meet; 

And men and boys and carts and drays 
Keep filling up the city’s ways. 

Sometimes a river you will see, 

And then a field and acorn tree; 

And there are troughs where horses stop, 

And laughing waters tinkling drop, 

And apple carts and loads of hay, 

And barefoot boys and girls at play. 

Some day, when I’m a great big man, 

I’ll hitch the wagon to old Fan, 

And take the road right by our door, 

Aaid ride a hundred miles or more. 

— Wilhelminci Seegmiller. 


FOUR DIFFERENT GUESSING GAMES 


187 


Four Different Guessing Games 


Guess what games we are going to tell about this time. Children 
always like to guess. Older folks do too sometimes. Perhaps it is 
because it is so much easier to guess than to think hard. Anyway, 
it is lots of fun to play guessing games at night when the room is 
warm and bright and it is guessing games we are going to talk about. 

My Lady Queen Anne 

The players sit in a ring, except one who must leave the room. 
One of the players in the ring is given a ball which she keeps out of 
sight. When the player who went out returns, she takes a seat in 
the center of the ring. All look at her and say : 

“ My lady Queen Anne 
She sits in the sun 
As fair as a lily 
As brown as a bun, 

The King sends you three letters and bids you read one.” 

Queen Anne replies : 

“ I cannot read one unless I read all 
So pray-give me the ball.” 

If the one named has the ball she must change places with Queen 
Anne; if not, Queen Anne must leave the room again. The ball 
must change hands each time. 

A rougher guessing game is played by boys and is called: 

Buck! Buck ! 

One boy mounts upon the back of another boy and after slapping 
his “ mount” on the shoulder, holds up his hand with a number of 
fingers extended and says : “ Buck ! Buck ! How many fingers do I 
hold up? ” If the under boy guesses right, the two change places. 

A good way to decide who will be the first to mount the other is 
this: One boy takes a small object in one of his hands and placing 
one fist on the top of the other says : 

“ Handy-dandy riddledy ro, 

Which will you have, high or low ? ” 

If the other guesses right, he has first choice, if not, he loses. 




188 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Throwing Light 

Two of the players leave the room and agree upon some object. 
They return to the rest and engage in conversation about the object 
they have agreed upon. This is called “ throwing light ” on the sub¬ 
ject. If any player thinks he can guess the object chosen, he joins 
in the conversation. If one of the two players who chose the object 
thinks any player who joins in the conversation has guessed wrong, 
he may challenge him. In that case the guesser must whisper the 
word in the ear of the challenger. If he is right he continues in the 
conversation, but if wrong he must sit with his handkerchief over 
his face until he can “ throw true light ” on the subject. The game 
goes on until only one player is left in the dark. It is allowable to 
choose words pronounced alike but of different meanings. An ex¬ 
ample of a puzzling word is sole; the players may speak of the sole, 
meaning the sole of a shoe, or sole, meaning a fish. 

Acting Charades 

This game may be played with or without sides. If played with 
sides, the sides alternate in acting and guessing. The object of the 
game is to guess a word or proverb acted out by the other players. 
The actors must always tell beforehand how many syllables are in 
the word to be represented, also whether the first scene represents the 
whole word or the first syllable. If the latter, the last scene must 
represent the whole word. There must be a scene for each syllable. 
An illustration will help you to think up good words to use. 

Suppose the side to act out a word has chosen the word charitable. 

Scene 1. (Chair.) A family group in a living-room. Members 
doing various things. A caller comes. All rise. A child brings 
the most comfortable chair. 

Scene 2. (Eye.) A living-room. Children fooling. One hits 
the other accidentally on the eye. Child cries and mother comes in 
and makes an examination of the eye. 

Scene 3. (Table.) Children writing. Parent has each bring his 
work which in each case is seen to be a multiplication table. 

Scene 4. (Charitable.) Old woman lies ill. Some one calls and 
brings medicine and a basket of good things. 

Some good words for acting charades are : Carpet, railroad, baggage, bandage, basket-ball, base¬ 
ball, bridegroom, cowboys, holiday, heroes, welcome. 


EASTER GAMES 


189 


Easter Games 


After you have had all the fun you can coloring eggs for Easter 
and want something more to do with eggs—besides eating them— 
you can play. 


Egg Shell Football 

Your parents won’t be afraid of your getting hurt in this game 
nor object to your playing it in the house. And you will not be 
likely to be tempted to fall on the ball nor to kick it, nor to tackle 
the player. But it is a good hot game just the same. 

The “ football ” is an egg shell from which the contents have 
been “ blown.” To blow an egg you make a small hole in each end 
of the shell with some sharp instrument and then putting your lips 
firmly at the larger end of the egg, blow as hard as you can and force 
the white and the yolk out at the other end. The empty shell may 
be made more durable by pasting small pieces of paper over the 
holes at the ends. 

The “ field ” is a dining-room table from which everything has 
been cleared. The larger the table, the better. Goals may be made 
by setting up books or by fastening long hat pins in the cracks of the 
table. The “ goal posts ” should be rather wide apart. 

Sides are chosen. As many may play as can get comfortably 
about the table. 

The football is placed in the middle of the field as in football. 
At a signal the players try to blow the football toward their oppo¬ 
nent’s goal. The egg shell is so light it is easily forced back and forth 
over the field, and each side must be wide-awake to prevent a goal’s 
being made. 

If the football is blown off the side (where it should always be 
protected by the players from falling to the floor) it is put in play 
again opposite the place where it left the field. 

If the football is forced by either side past the goal line of the 
other, a touch-down is scored. This counts six. After a touch-down 
a free blow from the middle of the table is allowed the side making 
the touch-down. One puff is allowed to the player attempting the 
goal. If the football is blown between the goals an additional count 



190 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

of one is scored. The game may require much skill and alertness and 
if you think you have good strong lungs here is a way to prove it. 

Blowing for Distance 

Just as football players try to see how far they can kick the foot¬ 
ball, and baseball players throw for distance, so it is fun to see how 
far you can blow an Eggshell Football. The trial can be made on a 
very large table or on an uncarpeted floor. 

Place the shell on a mark on the table or floor. Each player 
may have three trials. He takes a full breath and then with a single 
puff from his powerful bellows blows the shell as far as he can. 

There is a game played with hard-boiled eggs which you may call 

King Cracker 

One player holds his egg in his hand, small end up; another tries 
to break this egg by tapping it with his own. If he succeeds in 
breaking the egg without breaking his own, his egg is “ King 
Cracker ” and the other’s egg is confiscated (you will have to look 
that word up). One who is careful to select sharp-pointed, thick- 
shelled eggs, may sometimes break a dozen less carefully selected eggs 
before his own is broken. There is an old custom in England called 

Egg Rolling 

The players usually in pairs roll their hard-boiled eggs down a 
bank. If one egg is broken and the other not, the owner of the un¬ 
broken egg takes the broken one. Egg rolling has long been an 
Easter custom on the White House grounds in Washington. 

It is a wide-spread custom in this country for the children of a 
family on Easter morning to hunt for hidden candy eggs. 

Another good hunting game to play with Easter eggs is this: 
Choose sides; each side hides the same number of eggs as the other, 
but in different parts of the house. When all the eggs were hidden, 
each side tries to find the eggs hidden by the other side. The side 
first finding all the eggs to be found wins. 

This is a very exciting game when it is played outdoors. In that 
case some older person may be chosen to hide the hard-boiled and 
colored eggs about the grounds. At a signal the two sides set about 
hunting the eggs. The side finding the larger number wins. 


GAMES 


191 


Indoors and Out 


The Deer 

The one who is chosen to be the “ Deer ” starts the game by step¬ 
ping directly in front of the others, and calling 11 Ready ” when the 
group standing still immediately sings to the air of “ Yankee Doodle,” 

u My heart is in the Highlands, 

My heart isn’t here. 

My heart is in the Highlands, 

Chasing the deer. ” 

At the word “ ready ” the “ deer ” starts to run, and the pursuers 
cannot follow until the song is ended, and the “ deer 99 has time to 
get a certain distance ahead before the others give chase : this they 
do as they sing the last word in the verse. The “ deer 99 runs a short 
distance, circles round and returns to the starting-point, or “ home ” ; 
the followers try to catch him before he reaches his goal. 

Here I Bake, Here I Brew 

The players join hands in a circle, with one of their number in 
the middle, who is supposed to be a captive, longing for freedom. 

The prisoner then touches one pair of joined hands in the circle, 
saying, “ Here I bake ” ; then, passing to the other side, says, “ Here 
I brew,” as she touches another pair of hands. Suddenly, then, in 
a place least suspected, perhaps whirling around and springing at 
two of the clasped hands behind her, or at the pair which she has 
touched before, if their owners appear to be off guard, she exclaims, 
“ Here I mean to break through 1 ” and tries to force her way out. 

The players must strongly resist the captive’s effort to escape. 

Twirl the Platter 

This offers a contest of agility. All sit around the room on 
chairs, on the floor, or about a table. Every player may be known 
by a number, if their names are not well known to one another. 

One then takes a tin plate and spins it. As his hand leaves it, 
he calls upon one of the company by name or number, who must 
catch the plate before it falls. Failing to do that, he must pay a for¬ 
feit. 



192 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Good Christmas Games 


Christmas has always been a time for rollicking games. In 
olden times many of these games were played about the yule- 
log. It is not strange, then, that some of them were played with 
fire. There are two of these fire games that are very interesting and 
exciting, but a little dangerous, too. If father and mother will play 
with you, to take care that no harm comes to the little ones, I will 
tell you how to play them. 

Robin-a-Ree 

That is what the game is called in Scotland. The players sit 
in a ring in front of the fireplace. One takes a burning taper or 
stick in his hand and says, 

“ Robin-a-Ree, ye’ll no dee wi’ me 

Tho’ I birl ye roun’ three times three; 

O Robin-a-Ree, O Robin-a-Ree 
O dinna let Robin-a-Reerie dee.” 

He then passes the stick to the next player who twirls the stick to 
keep the spark alive and repeats the words of the rhyme. The words 
are spoken and the stick is passed on more and more quickly as the 
spark dies away, for the one in whose hand the spark dies out must 
pay a forfeit. 

A still more exciting game for Christmas is the old, old game of 

Snapdragon 

Raisins, nuts, or other goodies (protected if necessary by tin- 
foil or otherwise) and covered with water are placed in a shallow 
dish or soup-plate. On the water is poured very gently a little 
alcohol or spirits of camphor. The plate is set on a cleared table, 
the players standing about. The alcohol is then lighted and all sing : 

The Song of the Snapdragon 

Here he comes with flaming bowl, With his blue and lapping tongue 

Don’t he mean to take his toll, Many of you will be stung. 

Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 



GOOD CHRISTMAS GAMES 


193 


For he snaps at all that comes But Old Christmas makes him come, 

Snatching at his feast of plums, Though he looks so fee ! fa ! fum ! 

Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 

Don’t—’ee fear him, be but bold— 

Out he goes, his flames are cold 
Snip ! Snap ! Dragon ! 

As this is sung the players who are brave enough make ready to 
snatch a prize from the flaming dish as soon as the last verse is ended. 

Turn the Trencher 

This is one of the most popular Christmas forfeit games. All sit 
in a circle. Each player chooses some article of a lady's toilette 
(such as comb, bracelet, diamond ring, brush, powder, dress, neck¬ 
lace, etc.), or hunter’s equipment, name of flower, or whatever may 
be decided upon. Then one of the players stands in the center of the 
group and spins the trencher, plate, or saucer, and says, 

“ My lady’s going out and needs her necklace ” (or whatever 
article he chooses to call for). 

The one who chooses the article called for must catch the 
trencher before it falls. If successful, he spins it again, calling for 
another article. If he fails to catch it before it falls, he has to pay a 
forfeit. Sometimes the spinner says : 

“ My lady is going to a ball and needs all her things.” 

All the players must then change places before the trencher falls. 
The last to get a place spins the trencher again. If the trencher is 
down, he must pay a forfeit. At the end of the game all forfeits are 
cried as explained before. 

Forfeits 

Many Christmas games are games of forfeit. A forfeit is a kind 
of good-natured, often comical, punishment put upon those who 
make mistakes in games. Any one who has to pay a forfeit gives 
up some article which must be redeemed at the end of the game. 
These articles are “ cried ” in this way. One of the players acts as 
“ crier ” and sits on a chair, having the forfeits in his lap. A player 
kneels on the floor and buries his face in the lap of the one who holds 
the forfeits. The crier then holds up one of the forfeited articles, 
which, of course, the kneeling player or “ judge ” cannot see, and says : 


194 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


u Here’s a very pretty thing, and a very pretty thing. 

And what shall be done by the owner of this very pretty thing 1 ” 

The judge then says what the penance is to be, and the owner of 
the forfeit must do whatever he is commanded by the judge. Then 
another forfeit is cried, and so on, until all the forfeits are redeemed. 
Some of the most common forfeits are : 


1. Blow out a candle blindfolded ; 

2. Stand in each corner of the room, sigh in 
one, cry in one, sing in one, and dance in the 
other ; 

3. Courtesy and pay a compliment to each 
person in the room ; 

4. Sing a song ; 

5. Make a speech ; 

6. Speak a piece ; 

7. Play on the piano ; 

14. Tell the fort 


8. Kiss your shadow ; 

9. Stand on a chair like a statue, in whatever 
position each player may place you ; 

10. Choose one of the three unseen aotions 
done behind your back ; 

11. Bob for an apple ; (the apple is put in 
a basin of water, and must be taken out by 
the teeth without being touched by the hands.) 

12. Imitate some animal; 

13. Draw a picture of your best friend ; 
e of each player. 


A New Game for Four-Year-Olds 

I-Tally 

Not Italy! But, I-Tally. Tally means to make marks to keep 
count. Almost all children, some time before they are five years 
old, like to count things. One of my little fellows just loves to. 
We take a block of paper and a pencil and go to a window where we 
can see everything that goes by. I draw for him a picture of the 
first thing we see,—an automobile, it may be. Then he makes a 
mark against it. “ There goes a dog ! ” he shouts. Down goes the 
picture of the dog and a mark against him. An electric car hums 
past. I draw that and he marks one for that. But by that time 
another auto has passed, and “ There is a messenger boy on his 
bicycle.” And so the jolly show goes on. 

For this game you can make a tally-sheet with dotted lines be¬ 
tween which to make the marks. When you get four, make the 
fifth one across them, diagonally. This will help you in counting, 
for then you can count easily by fives. 

It is fun to have a little friend with a tally-sheet, too. Then you 
can keep two lists and at the end of ten minutes see if you agree. 

Even children who can’t read yet like to play “ I-Tally,” and it 
helps to sharpen their eyes, and to make them good counters. 


GAMES 


195 


Hop Scotch 

No doubt you all have played some form of Hop Scotch. Ho you know that 
grown-up people used to play Hop Scotch ? It is a very old game. On the pave¬ 
ment of the Roman Forum were found several Hop Scotch figures, such as you 
might see on the sidewalks of almost all of the crowded residential streets of New 
York City, in season, which the children have drawn there with chalk. The 
early Christians played Hop Scotch and they made seven spaces in their figures, 
because seven was a number with a religious meaning, and the space marked 
seven was called 11 Heaven.” The object of the game was to overcome all diffi¬ 
culties and get safely into “Heaven.” That is supposed to be why you find 
seven spaces in some of the children’s Hop Scotch figures to-day. Possibly the 
figure took sometimes the form of a cross, for a cross with a base is one of the 
figures sometimes found. It is certain that the figure sometimes took the form of 
the early Christian Church, which was divided into seven parts. In Germany 
and some other countries one of the spaces was named paradise, and the name of 
the game meant “paradise Hopping.” 

Here are three different Hop Scotch figures : 

There are many different ways of playing this game. Some ways 
are easy, and some are very hard. Children make up different ways 
of playing. The following ways are good. You may change them 
as you like. 

First you “ pink ” or pitch the stone you play with for place. 
The one who pitches the stone nearest the first line of the figure has 
first play. If you are playing the game with a figure, as shown in 
Figure A, you toss your stone into No. 1 ; pick it up; hop, placing 
one foot in No. 2 and one in No. 5, and the other in No. 6; jump 
around; then go back in the same way you came. Place the stone 
on your foot, walk through the figure; then kick the stone up and 
catch it. Whenever a player misses, he gives way to the next player. 
When a player’s turn comes again, he begins where he left off. 
Whoever gets through first, wins. 

Figure B may be used in a similar way. Other ways of placing 
stone, when carrying it through the figure, are on the back of the 
hand, on the eye, on the shoulder, on the head. Sometimes the stone 
is left in each space in turn, the player hopping through the figure 
and returning to the stone each time. Sometimes the stone has to 
be kicked out of the different spaces. Figure C is often used for this 
form of the game, as follows : 

Toss the stone into No. 1; hop into No. 1 ; kick the stone out with 
the foot you are hopping on ; hop out. While hopping and while 


196 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Figf-A- Fig-B- rg-C- 


HOP SCOTCH FIGURES 

in the figure, you may not put the other foot down, except in certain 
spaces where it is allowed. Toss stone into No. 2 ; hop through 
No. 1 into No. 2; kick stone out as before, and return, hopping. 
The game goes on in the same way, until No. 8 is reached. Here 
the player may rest, placing one foot in No. 6 and one in No. 7, but 
hopping again when he resumes the game. 

As many kicks are allowed, in kicking the stone out of a space, 
as a player wants, if he does not put his other foot down, or step on a 
line, or land the stone on a line. If he makes any of these mistakes, 
he gives way to the next player. When a player reaches the last 
space, with the cat’s head, he must kick the stone back through each 
space in the right order, taking only one kick for each space, not 
putting his second foot down, stepping on a line, kicking stone into 
wrong space, nor over a side line. Whoever gets through all these 
difficult “ stunts ” first, of course, wins. The game may be played, 
“ Solitaire,” with any number, each for himself, or it can be played 
on sides. 

Hop Scotch is really a wonderful game and requires, in its hard 
forms, great bodily control and skill. It would be great fun to have 
a Hop Scotch tournament at school, for when the rules are correctly 
carried out the game is worth while. 






















GAMES 


197 


Chawkem and Tawkem in a Chalk Talk Entertainment 

“ Ladies and Gentlemen.” That is the way to begin your chalk 
talk, as you make a sweeping bow to your audience, like the boy in 
the illustration on the following page. But first you must have 
your easel all ready and your chalk talk all planned. Fasten several 
large sheets of paper to a board with nails strong enough to hold the 
remaining paper while you tear off each sheet as you have finished 
with it. If you are not used to drawing before an audience, it would 
be well for you to have your drawings sketched beforehand on the 
paper, so lightly that your audience cannot see them, but plainly 
enough so that they will guide you as you talk and draw. Dress up 
in a queer costume if you want to, like the boy in the picture. You 
can chalk more easily if you have an assistant to hold the chalks for 
you and to tear the papers off your easel. And you can talk more 
easily if he is there to answer your questions and to ask the ones to 
bring out your ideas. His name can be Professor Tawkem and yours 
Professor Chawkem. You begin this way : 

Professor Tawkem ( after placing {he easel on the stage). Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce 
the world-famous chalk talk artist, Professor Chawkem. 

Professor Chawkem (bowing). Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to meet you. This is my 
invaluable assistant, Professor Tawkem. 

(Professor Tawkem bows to the audience, then hands a piece of chalk to Professor Chawkem.) 
Professor Chawkem. Thank you, Professor Tawkem. What can I draw for you to-day ? 
Professor Tawkem. Let’s see. Well, suppose you draw a house. 

Professor Chawkem (drawing the letters , E, 0, U, S, E, in the order shown in the picture on the next 
page). All right. Here it is. 

Professor Tawkem. Why, that isn’t a house ! 

Professor Chawkem. Oh, isn’t it? Why not? 

Professor Talkem. It spells HOUSE all right. But it doesn’t look like one. (While Professor 
Tawkem is speaking , Professor Chawkem is changing the H into a window , the 0 into a door } the U 
into a chimney, the S into smoke , and the E into another window.) 

Professor Chawkem (sketching the house). Well, what do you think of it now? 

Now tear off the sheet of paper and begin another drawing. Be sure to keep talking as you draw 
and do not stand in front of your easel. Use a soft black crayon and make the chalk talk with thick firm 
lines. Always draw first the letters that spell the word, then the parts of the picture that are made from 
the letters, then the connecting lines. Keep your audience guessing until the very last minute as to how the 
picture really will look. They won't laugh unless they are surprised. Professor Tawkem must watch 
Professor Chawkem every minute or else the audience might look away too. When Professor 
Tawkem asks you to draw an automobile, say “ F 0 R D, automobile , ” as you make the letters. Don't 
draw the crank until you have let the audience see the whole automobile. Then after you have cranked the 
car, draw the smoke. Try the ideas on the next page before your friends and make up some chalk talk 
pictures of your own,—pictures that look like something and contain the letters which spell the name of the 
picture too. 

Be sure to stop your chalk talk before your audience gets tired and don't forget to say, Ladies and 
Gentlemen , 1 thank you ! ' ’ 


198 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



The letters that spell the name and that you draw first are made with dark lines 
here. You would better make them hide the rest of the lines. Make the letters 
first, the parts of the drawing that are made from the letters, second, and the con¬ 
necting lines last as shown in the drawings of the house and the man. 






























GAMES 


199 


Running and Sliding Races 

You all know what good fun it is to race on sleds; here is a run¬ 
ning and sliding race, described by William T. Miller. 

I 

First of all there must be a hill with a coasting track wide enough 
for several sleds to go abreast. Then at the bottom of the hill a 
stick must be set up in the snow on each side of the road to mark 
the start and finish of the race. The boys or girls who are to race 
line up across the road even with the two sticks with their sleds 
behind them. At the word “Go” they all start to run up the hill, 
dragging their sleds after them. They must run around a stick set 
in the snow at the top of the hill, and must then get on their sleds in 
any way they wish and coast down the hill. The first coaster to 
pass by the finishing stakes at the bottom of the hill wins the race. 

If there are children of different sizes the race is made more even 
by giving the older ones a handicap. Let the smallest child start 
from a point a good way up the hill, the others farther down, ac¬ 
cording to size, with the largest at the bottom. They all start to run 
up the hill when the starter shouts “ Go.” Perhaps on some holiday 
you can get your fathers and uncles, or even your mothers and aunts, 
to try this exciting race, only don’t have the hill too long. 

II 

This is another good coasting game when the hill is not too steep 
and dangerous. One is chosen leader to set the fashion for every 
coast, which all must follow. Some good ways or fashions of sliding 
are sitting, lying flat, kneeling with one foot trailing, side-saddle, 
standing. Then there are different styles of starting, such as the 
slow start, the running start. Making the sled jump, trying for 
distance, the quick stop, are further variations the leader may use. 
Whoever fails to follow suit, or gets “ dumped ” is out of the game. 

Competitions With Darts 
I 

Throwing darts is a rather dangerous play unless care is used. 
If you are careful there is no good reason why it may not be a safe 
and pleasant pastime for winter evenings and stormy days. An 
effective little dart may be made by a match, a pin, a bit of paper, 


200 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

and a piece of thread. Burn the head off a large match. Tie a pin 
firmly to one end of the match by winding it about with thread or 
an elastic. The elastic is better, since it adds a little to the weight 
of the dart. The point of the pin should extend about half-way 
beyond the end of the match. Split the other end of the match 
carefully with a knife blade just enough to hold two small squares of 
writing paper which should be slipped into the crack. These squares 
of paper should not be over half an inch wide. Now separate the 
edges of the squares with the fingers, bending them so that the outer 
edges stand somewhat in the form of x. These papers then serve 
as feathers do on arrows, and make the tiny dart go straight to its 
mark. Light as this dart is it can be thrown across the room so as to 
pierce a paper target, or even to stick into soft wood. A target made 
of a sheet of typewriting paper may serve as a mark. The circles 
of the target may be numbered so that an exact score may be kept. 

II 

A heavier dart is better, and Mabel H. Wharton tells us how 
one can be made. The materials required are one long horseshoe 
nail; one cork about an inch in diameter, and two inches long ; and 
three or four feathers. Press the horseshoe nail through the cork, 
starting it at the wider end, and forcing it clear through until the 
head of it is even with the end of the cork. Now place the feathers 
in this end of the cork, first starting a hole with a nail or other sharp 
instrument. 

These darts should be thrown against a soft board upon which 
the target is placed. When a dart hits the bull’s-eye, the other darts 
are aimed at it in an attempt to dislodge it. Whoever dislodges it 
gets a double count for his bull’s-eye. The dart in the bull’s-eye is 
withdrawn from the target as soon as each has had one throw at it. 

Telling Fortunes 

I 

How would you like to have your fortune told? This is the 
way Nina Corcoran and some young girls told each other’s fortune 
over and over, one afternoon. If you don’t get what you hope for 
the first time, you can try again. Arrange a table with different 
articles upon it. The one whose fortune is to be told is blindfolded 


GAMES 


201 


and led to the table. It is a good thing to turn the pla} r er about 
two or three times, repeating some “ rigamarole " which any one can 
make up, such as, for instance, this jingle, 

Wish we may, wish we might, 

Tell your fortune true to-night. 

After this has been said, the one blindfolded touches some object 
on the table. The first object touched tells what the player's future 
occupation is to be. The following lists will suggest articles and 
occupations that may be used. 



ARTICLES. 

OCCUPATIONS. 

1 . 

Book 

Librarian 

2. 

Lead pencil 

Teacher 

3. 

Dollar 

Heiress 

4. 

Toy tub 

Laundress 

5. 

Cookie 

Caterer 

6. 

Toy broom 

Housekeeper 

7. 

Pill box 

Doctor 

8. 

Doll hat 

Milliner 

9. 

Red paper cross 

Nurse 

10. 

Mouth organ 

Musician 


II 

Another way to play at telling fortunes is to have each player 
write a number of sentences predicting good and bad fortunes, 
giving warnings, and the like, such as,—“ You will inherit a large 
fortune," “ You will marry a widower," “ You are going on a long 
journey," “ Beware of a boy with a snub nose," “ A red-headed girl 
is your friend," and other better ones. The sentences can be made 
more amusing by having some of them suggested by what is known 
of some of the players, but many of them should be rather mysterious 
in their meanings. After the sentences are written, they should 
be carefully numbered. A circle should be drawn on a sheet of 
paper and divided into sections having numbers corresponding to 
those of the sentences. The one whose fortune is to be told shuts 
her eyes, whirls a pencil over the circle, then brings the point down 
on it. The number of the section touched by the pencil tells what 
sentence is to be read. 

If by any chance any of you should catch cold or have any other 
sickness and have to lie in bed, you might like to play this. 


202 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Charades and How to Put Them On 

When you act at home, you can pretend, of course, that any part 
of the house is a theatre. When there are not many actors, a wide 
low stair-landing is a good place to have for your stage, because the 
audience sitting below can see the stage plainly over the heads of 
the people in the front row. But if you have guests, you will need a 
curtain to hide the changes of scenery, and to help make your stage 
seem real. 

If you want a curtain, you must have your stage in a doorway 
where there is a curtain rod, or somewhere in the attic or play-room 
where you may drive nails to hold up the curtains. A curtain can 
be made of any kind of cloth that is not too heavy to pull back and 
forth easily. An old sheet or shawl makes a very good curtain. 
You must hang the curtain on a rod, or wire, or a very strong cord, 
which is stretched tightly from one side of the stage to the other. 
If you have no curtain-rings to hold the curtain to the rod, you can 
make a hem at the top of the curtain and pass the rod or wire 
through this hem. Be sure to have the hem wide enough so that 
you can pull the curtain back and forth easily. It is best to sew the 
hem strongly, but if the curtain is just for the day, the hem can be 
pinned with safety pins. 

A boy or girl can pull the curtain open or shut by walking back 
and forth within, across the stage. But with a little work you can 
fix the curtain so that it can be pulled from the side by a string. 
Sew a strong cord to the upper corner of the curtain, or tie it to the 
curtain-ring, and run it through the rings or the hem across the top 
and over a pulley at the side of the stage, and let it hang down at 
the side. A spool on a nail standing at right angles to the cord 
will make a good pulley. When a boy or girl at that side of the 
stage pulls the string, the curtain will open as he pulls it toward 
him. 

To shut the curtain, you must have another cord fastened to the 
end of the curtain just below the fastening of the first cord, and car¬ 
ried over a pulley on the other side of the stage, exactly opposite the 
first pulley. When the boy or girl on that side of the stage pulls this 
cord, he closes the curtain by bringing it back across the stage. See 
Figure 1. If you have two curtains, the cord that closes each curtain 


GAMES 


203 



This shows the way to hang the curtain for your stage. In Fig. 1 the cord A. B. 
holds up the curtain. C. D. E. opens it. F. G. H. closes it. In Fig. 2 A. B. 
holds up the curtain. C. D. E. opens the left hand curtain and F. G. H. closes 
it. I. J. K. opens the right curtain and L. M. N. closes it. 


must pass through the rings or hem of the other curtain, as shown 
in Fig. 2. 

Now if your curtain is ready, let us close it and plan an enter¬ 
tainment of Charades. 


Charades make a pleasant entertainment for any holiday or for 
Father’s or Mother’s birthday. You act them just as you do when 
you choose sides and take turns playing charades, but of course you 
must plan them beforehand and fix simple costumes. 

Think of a word of more than one syllable, act each syllable, 
then act the whole word, and ask the audience to guess what the 
word is. You can think of all sorts of words and rhymes and names 
to act in charades. 


Here is a charade made of a character in “ Mother Goose.” As 
there are three scenes, you will have a chance to make good use of 
your new curtain. 

A MOTHER GOOSE CHARADE 


A boy or girl acts as leader and speaks before 
the play : 

Now we will act some plays 
And when you’ve seen and heard 
The way we look and do and say, 

Then you must guess the word. 

There are two parts to this name. 

We’ll act it out three times. 

The first two acts are part of it, 

The third act shows the whole of one 
Of Mother Goose’s rhymes. 

THE FIRST ACT. 

The scene is a grocery store. Play this act 
just as you play store, with a counter, a store¬ 
keeper and customers. One customer comes in 
and cries out: 

Customer. Peter Piper picked a peck of 
pickled peppers! 


All. What’s that? 

Customer. A peck of pickled peppers Peter 
Piper picked ! 

Storekeeper. If Peter Piper picked a peck 
of pickled peppers, 

Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter 
Piper picked ? 

Enter Peter. 

Customer, to Peter. Oh, Peter, didn’t you 
pick a peck of pickled peppers? 

All. You didn’t, did you, Peter? 

Peter. Yes, I did. 

Storekeeper. Peter, Peter, if you picked a 
peck of pickled peppers, 

Where’s that peck of pickled peppers that 
you say you picked ? 

All, pointing to Peter. Oh, Peter, Peter! 

Curtain. 



























204 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



Here you see the actors giving the third act of the Charade. “ Peter, Peter, 
Pumpkin Eater,” as they will look to the audience in your attic theatre. 


THE SECOND ACT. 

A boy sits at a table , eating pie. After a 
moment he speaks : 

Boy. I do like pie, 

Any kind of pie, 

Apple, cherry, 

Or strawberry, 

Custard, mince, 

Prune or quince! 

But the pie I like the best, 

Better far than all the rest, 

Is the pie, 

Called pumpkin pie! 

I do like pie, 

Pumpkin pie! 

Curtain. 

THIRD ACT. 

Enter Peter and his wife. 

Wife. Peter, Peter, 

Now that we are married, where are we go¬ 
ing to live ? 


Peter. I don’t know. 

Wife. Haven’t you found a house for us? 

Peter. No. There are none to rent. Or if 
there are, the price is too high. 

Wife. Then I will have to go back home. 
Peter sits down and puts his head in his 
hands. Enter the Fairy Godmother. 

Godmother. What is the matter, Peter ? 

Peter. My wife is going to leave me and go 
home. 

Godmother, to Wife. Why are you going 
home ? 

Wife. Because he has no home for me. 

Godmother. Never mind. You shall have 
a home. I will give you Cinderella’s coach, 
the one I made out of a pumpkin. She 
doesn’t need it any more. It will do very 
nicely for a house. Come, Fairies, bring a 
pumpkin house for Peter ! 

Curtain. 


Now the audience tries to guess the charade and if they guess y 
Peter , Peter , Pumpkin Eater , 
they will guess right. 

You can plan charades from other Mother Goose names. Little Bo-Peep [Bow of ribbon), Simple 
Simon , Old King Cole (Coal), the Queen of Hearts , the House that Jack Built , all will be easy to give but 
hard to guess. Try them. 































GAMES 


205 


The Merry Fun of Going Mumming 

A Merry Christmas to all and you can make it a Merry Christ¬ 
mas if you try. Til tell you a new way to make a jolly good time. 
Go mumming. 

Really it isn’t new at all, but old, as old as your great-great-great- 
great-grandfather who lived way back in the olden time, in Merrie 
England. 

You can be a mummer, too, for a mummer was only a masker. 
He wore a funny, home-made mask and a ridiculous, home-made 
costume, and he went with his chums to the houses in the neighbor¬ 
hood, and acted a little play at Christmas time. Don’t tell a soul 
about it except just the boys and girls who are in the play. Then 
learn your parts,—there is only a little for each one to learn,—and 
di •ess like the mummers shown you on a following page and go 
a-mumming to your own homes. Steal out the back door and 
around to the front and ring the door-bell. Then when the door is 
opened, one of the players, the Turkish Knight, says : 

“ Please open the front door wide 
And let us come inside. 

If you would Christmas pleasure win, 

Let Father Christmas and us come in.” 


Then when you have come into the house, you act and play with 
your hosts as the audience. 

HERE IS THE PLAY 


I did not make it all up by myself. It is the 
very same story of Saint George and the Dragon 
which the old English mummers used to play. 
1 have written it over to please you, just as 
mother makes over big sister s dress to fit little 
sister. 

Father Christmas speaks first: 

Father Christmas. 

Here come I, old Father Christmas ; 
Welcome or not, 

I hope old Father Christmas 
Will never be forgot. 

The play is written this way because your 
queer, home-made costumes may not tell the 
audience what part you are playing. So each 
player tells his name in the first line of his part. 


Father Christmas. 

I hope each year your home will show 
The garland of sweet Mistletoe. 

The play is written this way so that you will 
not forget to speak when your turn comes. Each 
player s part ends with the name of the char¬ 
acter who speaks next. Now the little girl 
who plays the Mistletoe steps forward. 

The Mistletoe. 

Here am I, the Mistletoe ; 

Dressed in white and green I go ; 

I bring you Christmas fun and folly, 

With my gay sister, Christmas Holly. 

Holly steps forward. 


206 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



The Holly. 

Here am I, the Christmas Holly ; 

My berries make the household jolly ; 
Their color in the fire you see ; 

My green leaves match the Christmas 
Tree. 

The Christmas Tree stands with arms out 
like branches. 

Christmas Tree. 

Here am I, the Christmas Tree, 

Who holds the Christmas gifts for thee; 
Upon my crown a star shines bright ; 

My branches bear the candle-light. 

Now the actors step to one side and make room 
for the play. The Mistletoe, the Holly , and the 
Christmas Tree hold their green garlands to 
make a pretty background for the dragon play. 
But if there are not actors enough for all the 
parts , these characters can make a slight change 
in costume and become Saint George, the 
Dragon , and the Doctor. They need not dress 
up much to change their parts, for the play tells 
what they are supposed to be. Father Christ¬ 
mas speaks next: 

Father Christmas. 

Make room, make room, good friends of 
ours, 

And give us room to rhyme ; 

We’re here to show a Christmas play, 

At merry Christmas time. 

Pray take your chairs and sit down every 
one, 

You may be tired before your play is done. 

Then after the boys have b7’ought chairs for 
all the audience. Father Christmas speaks ; 


Father Christmas. 

Now if you’re ready, clear the way ; 

Enter Saint George, and start the play. 

St. George. 

Here come I, Saint George, with sword of 
gold ; 

To challenge me there’s none so bold; 

No fight will Saint George ever shirk 
With pagan knight or wicked Turk. 

The Turkish Knight. 

Here come I, the Turkish knight ; 

In Turkish land I learned to fight; 

I’ll fight Saint George, who is my foe; 

And make him yield before I go. 

St. George. 

If thou art then a Turkish knight, 

Draw out thy sword and let us fight. 

They fight. The Turkish Knight falls. 

Father Christmas. 

Is there a Doctor to be found, 

To cure this knight of his deadly wound ? 

The Doctor. 

Here come I, the Doctor Man, 

And with my famous medicine, 

Called hocum, slocum, alicampan, 

I’ll touch his eyes and nose and chin, 

And say, “ Rise up and fight agin.” 

They fight again. The Turk is slain, and 
again the Doctor cures him. The Turk arises 
atid rushes at Saint George, who refuses to fight. 








GAMES 


207 



St. George. 

Here am I, Saint George, with shining 
armour bright, 

I am a famous champion, also a worthy 
knight. 

I’ve killed you once, I’ve killed you twice, 

I do not dare to kill you thrice. 

The Turkish Knight. 

Then you shall feed my hungry dragon, 

For I am tired of all your braggin’. 

The Dragon. 

Here come I, the hungry, hungry Dragon ; 
With my fiery breath and my snapping jaws, 
With my long, sharp teeth and my long, 
sharp claws, 

I fill the bravest man with fright; 

I’ll eat you up in a single bite. 


Saint George and the Dragon fight. Saint 
George kills the Dragon , who is then brought 
back to life by the Doctor. 

Dragon, weeping. 

Here am I, the hungry, hungry Dragon. 

I fought with Saint George and Saint George 
beat, 

Now what shall the hungry Dragon eat? 

Father Christmas. 

Ladies and gentlemen, our play is done ; 
This is the end of the acting fun. 

Only one thing I greatly dread 
Is hungry Dragon who won’t stay dead. 
Perhaps you will give him some butter and 
bread. 

And if you’ve some cakes you’d like to pass, 
You’ll please each mummer, lad and lass. 


Perhaps after all you would better let one of the family lcnow before¬ 
hand what you are planning , so the folks will be prepared for this part 
of the mumming. 


CLOUD PICTURES 

THE SKY’S A MOVING PICTURE SHOW 
BUT BEST OF ALL, YOU’LL FIND 
IT DOESN’T COST A CENT TO GO, 

AND MOTHER DOESN’T MIND. 

Mary Carolyn Davies. 
















208 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



THE STAGE FOE THE PUPPET SHOW 
PLACED ON A TABLE BEADY TO 
BE FITTED UP FOB USE 


A Stage for Puppet Plays 

You can make a good stage 
for puppet plays from an ordi¬ 
nary pasteboard box. A shoe 
box will do, though a larger 
box is better. Remove the 
cover and cut out one of the 
long sides. Now place the box 
on a table so that the open side 
is at the bottom and the other 
open side is at the front, pro¬ 
jecting slightly over the edge of 
the table, as shown in Fig. 1. 

For the characters who take 
part in the play, you can use 
small dolls dressed in long skirts 
you hold them, or paper dolls 
cardboard should project below 
If you can draw and color 
Not only 


that will cover your hand while 
mounted on stiff cardboard. The 
the feet of the paper doll, for a handle, 
the pictures that you mount for puppets, all the better, 
the characters, but the “ properties ”—the things used in the play— 
can be cut out of paper and mounted. 

When you are ready for the performance, place a screen or board 
in front of the table, so that the audience cannot see you in your 
place under the table, where you guide the puppet characters. The 
screen should be a slight distance from the table and the puppets 
should be held so that the handles are underneath the box and be¬ 
tween the screen and the table. See Fig. 2. If there are several 
characters, or many properties in the play, you will need some other 
boy or girl to stay under the table with you and help you make the 
puppets act the play. 

You can make your play very funny by having your puppets 
walk in different ways. You can move your hands so that one pup¬ 
pet seems to glide across the stage, another to hop, and another to 
tumble down. As you speak the parts from your place under the 
table, you must be careful to speak in different tones, when different 
characters are supposed to be talking. 





















GAMES 


209 



A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES IN THF PUPPET PLAY. (A) THE ENTRANCED 
AUDIENCE. (B) THE STAGE AND THE STAGE MANAGER 



The story of the Knave of 
Hearts can be given very easily 
in a puppet stage. From an 
old pack of cards, take the 
King, Queen, and Knave of 
Hearts. Just below the mid¬ 
dle of each card, cut a notch 
on each side, so that you can 
tie a handkerchief around the 
card to form a skirt for the 
puppets and a cover for your 
hand when you hold the card. 
See A in Fig. 3. 

With these actors, a few prop¬ 
erties for the furniture of the 
Queen’s Kitchen and the King’s 
Court Room, and a little thought about just what each actor ought 
to do and say, you can give a very amusing performance. First 






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(a) An actor in “The King of Hearts.” 
(b) The table in the royal kitchen, (c) The 
royal cook book, (d) The plate of tarts. 









































210 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

show the Queen, making her tarts, while she talks about the 
recipe and about how pleased the King will be to have tarts. 
Now show the Knave finding the tarts, tasting one, and then run¬ 
ning away with the plate. Next show the King coming to the 
kitchen for a lunch between meals and asking the Queen for some¬ 
thing to eat, her discovery that the tarts are gone, and the King’s 
sending for the Knave whom they think took the tarts. Now in 
another “act” you can show the King and Queen waiting for the 
Knave, who is brought in by the Captain of the Guard, the Knave 
of Clubs. Then you can stage the trial and the King “ beating 
the Knave full sore,” and last, the Knave’s promise to “ steal no 
more.” 

Save your pasteboard stage and the cover it had when it was just 
a box. You may wish to use them again. 


Tableaux for Thanksgiving 


A pretty introduction to the story of the Pilgrim Thanksgiving 
can be made by showing in a shadow picture a ship of the olden 
time coming from England to America. Cut from cardboard an 
outline of the front view of an old boat with its sails set and an 
outline of the waves of the ocean. Stretch a sheet of white cloth 
or paper to cover the space that contains the pictures ; place the 
cardboard boat slightly back of the sheet and arrange the light at 
the correct distance back of the ship to show a clear silhouette 
of the boat. The figure will show on the sheet, when the room 
where the audience is seated is darkened. Now move the light 
slowly toward the boat and the silhouette on the screen will 
grow larger as if the boat were sailing from a distance toward 
the audience. 

The second tableau is shown in Figure 2, a Pilgrim family 
bringing in the harvest, for which the poor starving Pilgrims 
were so grateful that they held a great Thanksgiving feast. In 
this picture the Pilgrims are dressed in brown, gray, or olive- 
green. The man carries a scythe which always suggests harvesting,— 



TABLEAUX FOR THANKSGIVING 


211 


which is the subject of 
the picture. The man's 
and the boy's collars and 
the woman’s and the girl's 
kerchiefs, caps and aprons 
are white. In those days 
the children were dressed 
in the same way as the 
grown people. The ap¬ 
ples which the little girl 
carries in her apron are 
red and light yellow and, 
of course, the pumpkins 
are orange, and the corn 
yellow, with green husks. 
If it is not convenient to 
use real pumpkins and ap¬ 
ples you can make them 
of paper and color them 
to look real. But when 
you pose in the picture, 
you must remember to 
hold them as if they were 
heavy or else the audience 
will know they are not 
real. Figure 3 shows how 
you can make the hats, 
collars and shoes for the 

A PILGRIM FAMILY BRINGING HOME THE HARVEST 

Pilgrims and the corn 
which the older girl carries in her apron. Large handkerchiefs can 
be used for the kerchiefs. 

In the third tableau, you can show Governor Bradford telling 
the Puritan men to go “ fowling ” to shoot wild turkeys and geese 
for the feast. Governor Bradford must stand in the front of the 
picture and he must show by the way he points with his hand that 
he is giving orders to the Pilgrims who are grouped in the back¬ 
ground. Be sure when you arrange this picture to group the Pil¬ 
grim men naturally ; you do not want the picture to look as if each 














212 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 



person were trying to be seen. The men must look at Governor 
Bradford as if he really were speaking to them. 

In the fourth tableau you can show the preparations for the feast 
which the Pilgrim women made at home while the men were hunt¬ 
ing the fowl. One woman can be making pie and another churning. 




































TABLEAUX FOR THANKSGIVING 


213 



The fifth tableau shows the men coming home from their hunt¬ 
ing with their guns and the game they have shot. You can make 
the turkeys which they carry of paper, like the picture in Figure 5, 
and paint the turkey brownish-gray with feathers of gray violet and 
the head red. Boys, can you hold the light paper turkeys as if you 
were carrying real, dead turkeys that are heavy ? 

To that first Thanksgiving the neighboring Indians were invited and as the celebration lasted a 
week, the people had other entertainment besides feasting, for no one, not even a boy, could eat all 
the time. So they held games and contests of skill and the Indians helped pay for their entertain¬ 
ment by shooting at a mark with their bows and arrows. In the sixth tableau you can show the 
Indians trying to see who could shoot farthest. Their dress is shown in Figure 6. 

For the last tableau you can show the feast. Place a long wooden 
table so that its end is toward the front of the stage and show the 
Puritans sitting around three sides of the table eating turkey, bread, 
pie, fruit and all the good things one eats at Thanksgiving time. 
The Indians, in bright colored blankets, can stand in the background 
or sit at the edge of the group smoking their pipes. See K, Plate 3. 

If you wish your tableaux to be successful, there are a few things you must remember. Every 
one in the picture must stand perfectly still and not move until the curtain has fallen clear to the 
floor. And never stand directly in front of another person in the tableau. Of course, the important 
people should be in front; but they must never entirely hide one of the others ; every part of the 
picture counts. If you wish the tableau to seem real, you must pretend that you are the person 
whom you represent and that you are really doing the thing the picture is supposed to show. 


















214 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


The Sad and Funny Play of Pyramus and Thisbe 

A Play from Shakespeare for Children to Act 

Every one ought to read or some time go to see a good Shake¬ 
speare play. Three hundred years ago the great Shakespeare fin¬ 
ished his work. 

When you are older you will read the big book called “ The 
Plays of William Shakespeare.” You can read the stories of Shake¬ 
speare's plays now, in the book called “ Tales from Shakespeare,” 
written by Charles Lamb and his sister, Mary. There you can find 
the story of “ A Midsummer-Night's Dream.” Right in the middle 
of that play is another play called “ Pyramus and Thisbe,” an easy 
play for boys and girls to act. 

This is the way the play happened : 


Theseus, the King of Athens, was to be married to Hippolyta and all the people of Athens, rich 
and poor, who could sing or dance or play or act offered to help make the wedding-day merry. 
Among the poorer people was a company of laborers. Their names were Quince, the carpenter, 
Snug, the joiner, Bottom, the weaver, Flute, ,the bellows mender, Snout, the tinker, and Starveling, 
the tailor. They wanted to show the King how much they loved him so they decided to have a 
play and act it at the Kiug’s wedding, if he would let them. 

The story they chose to act is the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, two young lovers who could 
not be married because their fathers had quarreled. But as they were next door neighbors they 
talked to each other through a chink in the wall between their houses. At last they planned to 
run away and be married. They were to meet by moonlight in the graveyard at the tomb of 
Nin us. 

When the parts were given out, Bottom, the weaver, wanted to be them all. And when they 
rehearsed the play, Bottom got lost and was late to rehearsal and some of the players did not know 
their parts. And they worried for fear the audience would not like the play, or that they might 
be frightened at the Lion or that they might not be pleased because of the sad death of Pyramus 
and Thisbe in the unhappy ending. So they decided to have a Prologue and have the speaker 
of the Prologue tell that the Lion was not a real lion but just Snug the joiner and that Pyramus 
and Thisbe were just Bottom, the weaver, and Flute, the bellows mender, and were really not dead 
at all. 

They did not know how to show the wall through which Pyramus and Thisbe talked, so they 
decided to have one of the actors play the part of the wall and hold up his fingers for the chink. 
And to show that the lovers met by moonlight, they had another player act the moon with a laut- 
horn, or lantern, and a thorn-bush and a dog, for the man-in-the-moon’s dog. 

When the wedding-day came, out of all the fine plans, the king chose to hear their little play for, 
said he, “ They are simple, loyal people and made the play not to show off their talent but for love, 
and so I chose to hear it.” And so the poor laborers acted their play. Shakespeare meant this play 
to be funny, and not sad at all, as one might think from the story. 

Now give out the parts ; the Lion to one who can roar ; the Wall to a boy or girl who can get 
through a hole in a hat box ; and Thisbe, to a boy who can talk in a high voice and squeal like a 
girl. Others can be Moonshine, Pyramus, and Prologue. 

You do not need a curtain. The stair landing or a simple platform will make a good stage. So 
you can give your play anywhere. 

As some speeches in the play are long, you would better have a Prompter, to follow the play in 
the book and help you if you should forget your lines. 

Here is the play. It is shortened a little to make it easier for your audience to understand. 
You can find the whole play in “ A Midsummer-Night’s Dream,” Act V, Scene 1. 

First comes the Prologue, who bows to the audience. He is followed by Pyramus and Thisbe, 
Wall, Moonshine, and Lion. 


PLAY OF PYRAMUS AND THISBE 


215 



Prologue 

Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show. 
But wonder on, till truth make all things plain ; 
This man is Pyramus, if you would know ; 

(Pyramus boivs .) 

This beauteous lady Thisbe is certain. 

(Thisbe bows.) 

This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth 
present 

Wall, that vile Wall which did these lovers 
sunder; 

( Wall bows.) 

And through Wall’s chink, poor souls, they 
are content 

To whisper. At the which let no man wonder. 
This man with lanthorn, dog, and bush of 
thorn, 

Presenteth Moonshine ; ( Moonshine bows) for 
if you will know, 

By moonshine did these lovers think no scorn 
To meet at Ninus’ tomb, there, there to woo. 
This grisly beast, which Lion hight thy name, 
(Lion bows.) 

The trusty Thisbe, coming first by night, 

Did scare away, or rather did affright; 

And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall, 
Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain. 
Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth and tall, 
And finds his trusty Thisbe’s mantle slain : 
Whereat with blade, with bloody, blameful 
blade, 

He bravely broached his boiling bloody 
breast; 

( You must practice this part. It isn't easy 
to say .) 

His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest, 
Let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and lovers twain 
At large discourse, while here they do remain. 

(Prologue tells the story of the play so that the 
audience will be sure to understand. Exeunt 


Prologue , Thisbe , Lion and Moonshine. Exeunt 
means they go out.) 

Act I. (The Wall speaks.) 

Wall: 

In this same interlude it doth befall 
That I, one Snout by name, present a wall, 
(Give your own name instead of Snout if you 
wish.) 

And such a wall, as I would have you think 
That had in it a crannied hole or chink, 
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and 
Thisbe, 

Did whisper often very secretly. 

This loam, this rough-cast and this stone doth 
show 

That I am that same wall; the truth is so ; 
And this the cranny is, right and sinister, 
Through which the fearful lovers are to 
whisper. 

(Enter Pyramus. Enter means he comes in .) 
Pyramus: 

O grim-look’d night! O night with hue so 
black ; 

O night, which ever art when day is not! 

O night, O night! alack, alack, alack, 

I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot! 

And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall, 
That stand’st between her father’s ground and 
mine ! 

Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall, 
Show me thy chink, to blink through with 
mine eyne ! (Eyne means eyes.) 

( Wall holds up his fingers.) 

Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well 
for this ! 

But what see I ? No Thisbe do I see, 

O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss! 
Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me! 
(Enter Thisbe .) 









































216 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Thisbe (in a high voice)'. 

( Thisbe , you know, is played by a boy dressed 
as a girl.) 

O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans, 
For parting my fair Pyramus and me ! 

My cherry lips have often kiss’d thy stones, 
Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee. 
Pyramus: 

I see a voice ; now will I to the chink, 

To spy an I can hear my Thisbe’s face. 

Thisbe! 

(‘‘ See a voice ” is Bottom's mistake , of 
course , but you make it too so your audience 
will laugh .) 

Thisbe*: 

My love, thou art, my love I think. 

Pyramus : 

Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover’s grace. 
O, kiss me through the hole of this vile wall! 

(Wall holds up his fingers. They throw 
kisses at the chink.) 

Thisbe : 

I kiss the wall’s hole, not your lips at all. 
Pyramus : 

Wilt thou at Ninny’s tomb meet me straight¬ 
way ? 

Thisbe : 

’Tide life, ’tide death, I come without delay. 

(Exeunt Pyramus and Thisbe.) 

Wall: 

Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so ; 
And, being done, thus Wall away doth go. 
(Exit Wall.) 

Act II. The Graveyard. 

(This is Just for you to read or for Prologue 
to speak. There is no scenery. Shakespeare 
had none.) 

(Enter Lion and Moonshine.) 

Lion : 

You ladies, you whose gentle hearts do fear 
The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on 
floor, 

May now perchance both quake and tremble 
here, 

When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar. 
Moon : 

Thislanthorn doth the horned moon present; 
(Promoter keep still. The Moon is forgetting 
on purpose .) 

This lanthorn doth the horned moon present ; 
Myself the man i’ the moon do seem to be. 
Myself. . . . 

All that I have to say is, to tell you that the 
lanthorn is the moon ; I, the man in the moon ; 
this thorn-bush, my thorn-bush ; and this dog, 
my dog. 

(Enter Thisbe.) 

Thisbe : 

This is old Ninny’s tomb. Where is my love ? 

(Enter Lion.) 

Lion (roaring): 


(Thisbe screams and runs off, dropping her 
cloak .) 

(The Lion shakes Thisbe's mantle, or cloak, 
and exit.) 

(Enter Pyramus.) 

Pyramus : 

Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny 
beams; 

I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright; 
For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering gleams, 

1 trust to take of truest Thisbe sight. 

(He sees Thisbe's mantle.) 

But stay, O spite ! 

But mark, poor knight, 

What dreadful dole is here! 

Eyes, do you see ? 

How can it be ? 

O dainty duck! O dear ! 

Thy mantle good, 

What, stain’d with blood ! 

O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame ? 
Since lion vile hath here deflower’d my dear : 
Which is—no, no—which was the fairest dame 
That lived, that loved, that liked, that looked 
with cheer. 

Come, tears, confound ; 

Out, sword, and wound! 

(Stabs himself.) 

Thus die I, thus, thus, thus. 

Now am I dead, 

Now am I fled ; 

My soul is in the sky. 

Tongue, lose thy light; 

Moon, take thy flight; 

(Exit Moonshine.) 

Now die, die, die, die, die. (Dies.) 

(Enter Thisbe.) 

Thisbe : 

Asleep, my love ? 

What, dead, my love? 

O Pyramus, arise! 

Speak, speak. Quite dumb ? 

Dead, dead ? A tomb 
Must cover thy sweet eyes. 

These lily lips, 

This cherry nose, 

These yellow cowslip cheeks, 

Are gone, are gone : 

Lovers, make moan: 

His eyes were green as leeks. 

Tongue, not a word : 

Come trusty sword ; 

( Thisbe stabs herself.) 

And, farewell, friends; 

Thus Thisbe ends: 

Adieu, adieu, adieu. (Dies.) 

Now Pyramus and Thisbe rise and bow. The 
other actors come on the stage. Then each char¬ 
acter bows and leaves the stage, Thisbe , Pyramus, 
Lion roaring, Wall, and Moonshine. Prologue 
stays, but after clearing his throat as if to speak, 
he bows and leaves the stage. 


RIDDLES IN PICTURES 


217 


Riddles in Pictures 


When evening comes, and the boys and girls gather about the 
bright fire, it is great fun to tell riddles, and see who can guess them. 
There are many old books of riddles that are just as good to-day and 
just as puzzling. 

Did you ever tell the answers by making pictures either with 
crayon or by cutting silhouettes? Pictures may also be cut from 
magazines and advertisements. 

Directions 

Read the riddles all through carefully before you begin. Decide 
what pictures you want to make. Read the riddle you choose, care¬ 
fully, look at all the silhouettes, taking the right one for the answer. 
Think what you can put with it to make your picture a more com¬ 
plete answer. Decide upon the colors of paper you will use. Try 
to make the color fit the object, as a red pin-cushion, white or black 
thread and black for coal. 

Choose white paper for the background. Copy or trace the sil¬ 
houettes you wish to use, cutting them from colored papers; also, 
cut from paper as many other figures as you need. 

Now arrange your figures to tell their answers on the paper. 
When you have them right, paste them in position and cut your 
background down to the right size to look well. Mount this neatly 
on a piece of gray manila paper large enough to let you write the 
riddle nicely underneath. Plan to have all your riddles worked out 
on the same sized cards, and then if you wish you can bind them 
together. 

Can you make riddles of your own ? Do you know what a real 
riddle is ? 

The subject of the riddle must be a word that has two or more 
meanings. You can easily make the riddle by giving a description 
of two objects the names of which are spelled alike. Take for in¬ 
stance the word ring. You can say that it is on your finger but it is 
also round the moon. Other words with two or more meanings are 
box, pen, etc. 



218 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Riddles 




As I went through the garden gap, 

Who should I meet but Dick Ked-cap ! 

A stick in his hand, a stoue in his throat: 
If you’ll tell me this riddle I’ll give you a 
groat. 

Humpty Durapty sat on a wall, 

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, 

Three score men and three score more 
Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was 
before. 

Little Nancy Etticoat 
In a white petticoat 
And a red nose ; 

The longer she stands 
The shorter she grows. 

Formed long ago, yet made to-day, 
Employed while others sleep ; 

What few would like to give away, 

Nor any wish to keep. 

There was a girl in our towne, 

Silk an’ satin was her gowne, 

Silk an’ gold an’ velvet, 

Guess her name—three times I’ve toll’d it. 

What goes up when the rain comes down I 

Long legs, crooked thighs, 

Little head and no eyes. 

What shoemaker makes shoes without 
leather 

With all the four elements put together? 
Fire and water, earth and air, 

Every customer has two pair. 

I am as black as black can be, 

But yet I shine, 

My home was deep within the earth 
In a dark mine. 

Years ago I was buried there, 

And yet I hold 

The sunshine and the heat, which warmed 
That world of old. 

Though black aud cold I seem to be, 

Yet I can glow. 

Just put me on a blazing fire— 

Then you will know. 






DOLL TABLEAUX 


219 


Doll Tableaux that Every One Enjoys 

By Antoinette Beeoursey Patterson 

Mrs. Farrell, the nice old woman who lived at the end of the 
lane near the home of Elsie and Constance Graham, told them that on 
the following Thursday she would be eighty years old ; and then she 
added, in reply to their question, that she never had had a birthday 
party because they had always been too poor. 

The little girls determined on their way home that this year she 
should have one, and that there should be both ice-cream and cake. 
It would take fifty cents, by the closest calculation, for they were to 
share in the party, and old Mrs. Farrell's yellow cat was also to be 
invited, and they had only twenty cents between them. There was 
just a week's time in which to raise the rest of the amount—too short 
a notice for either a fair or a play. 

“ I have it," said Elsie. “ We'll have Doll Tableaux, and we 
know at least six girls who’ll take tickets at five cents apiece, and 
that will just make it! " 

So the two children set at once to work ; for the tableaux must 
be thought up, and dresses made for the dolls to suit their different 
parts. The stage, they decided, was to be the library table—for father 
wouldn't mind removing his books for just one afternoon—and its 
dark green cloth would do admirably well either for grass, or a rich 
carpet! For a background and side pieces they could use the clothes- 
horse belonging to their big dolls—only the little ones were to be in 
the tableaux—which would make the framework of a screen, over 
which they could throw mother’s little gray shawl. 

The first tableau decided upon was Little Red Riding Hood. 
Among the ornaments on the nursery mantel was a brown china 
bear, which looked just as much like a wolf; and, since in their 
picture-book Red Riding Hood had dark hair, the doll Elfrida was 
selected for the part, and Elsie, who was clever with her needle, soon 
made out of some red flannel the cutest little hood, with a cape which 
nearly covered her white dress. Elfrida's arms were jointed, so she 
could hold a tiny basket—made of her hat—filled with flowers, as 
though she had just been gathering them when she met the wolf. 
A few sprays of spruce placed against the background would easily 
give the idea of the forest. 


220 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


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TO SMITH WNT 


THE ADVERTISING MAN, THE PROGRAMME, AND A TICKET FOR A SUCCESSFUL 
ENTERTAINMENT 


5 shows s 


ADMITONt- 


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PROGRAMME 

3H0WL 

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD 

5H0WZ 

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 
SHOW 3 
CINDERELL-A 
5H0W4 

THE GLASS SLIPPER. 
5HOW5 

-THE GRAND FINALE 

MIGHT ANDMNING 


Cast of Characters 

LITRE RED RIDtNGH^D,E.LFRIDA 
THE W°1F, SMITH’S CHINA BEAR 
SLEEPING BEAUTY ELEANORA 
THE PRINCE, ELFR1DA 

CINDERELLA,aEANORA 
FAIRYGOBMOTHERl£ LrRIDA 

HORSES AND COACHMEN 
FROM JOHN’S NOAH'S ARK 
NIGHT, ELFRIDA 
MORNING, ELEANORA 

PLEASE CLAP! 


The next scene, it was decided, should represent The Sleeping 
Beauty. This, so far as the Beauty was concerned, was very easily 
managed, for all their friends thought Eleanora one of the loveliest 
dolls they had ever seen, with her long fair hair and eyes that would 
shut so naturally. The gilt drawing-room sofa from the playhouse 












































DOLL TABLEAUX 


221 


would be exactly the thing, and nothing need be made in the way of 
a gown, for Sister Sue's fine lace handkerchief would make one of the 
daintiest and most ample of coverlets lined with a square of pink or 
blue muslin which they would be sure to find in Mother's work bag. 
But when it came to the Prince, who should be standing by the 
couch as though about to awaken the Princess, the case seemed 
quite difficult. But Sister Sue, who could generally be relied on in 
emergencies, said that Elfrida, after Red Riding Hood was over, 
would make a most delightful prince; and that already they had 
half the costume, in the shape of the black velvet coat she herself 
had made for Elfrida in the winter, which was trimmed with tiny 
brass buttons, and belted in at the waist in just the way to hold a 
bright new bodkin for a sword ! So all that it was necessary to 
make would be a pair of high boots, wrinkled at the top, which 
could be manufactured from the soft part of an old pair of long tan 
gloves Sister Sue had. All one had to do was to cut them out and 
sew them as though they were long loose doll's stockings. As every 
one knew, in those days, princes wore long curls; and Elfrida’s own 
winter hat, with a long feather plucked from the dust-brush, could 
be carried in one hand to complete the effect. 

A scene from Cinderella was the next tableau decided upon. The 
kitchen stove and other appropriate furnishings from the playhouse 
would give the picture to the life; and the doll belonging to Janet 
Martin who lived next door must of course have the part, as her 
name happened to be Cinderella and she had a little gown of ashen- 
gray. Almost any doll would do for the fairy godmother, as in this 
tableau she was to appear all wrapped in a dark cloak ; while a 
mock-orange would make a fine pumpkin, and the smallest of Baby 
Bobby's Noah’s Ark animals would do for the rats before they were 
transformed into the historic coach and four. 

Another scene was to represent Cinderella back in the kitchen 
after the ball, and the Prince—Elfrida again, in the costume worn in 
The Sleeping Beauty—stooping down to try on the tiny slipper he 
had found when the frightened Cinderella had fled at the stroke of 
twelve. Two dolls, who had never been much loved, were to be the 
Proud Sisters. Arrayed in all the finery that could be provided, 
they were to be looking scornfully on, never for a moment thinking 
the slipper would fit. It was a disappointment to Elsie and Constance 


222 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


that the little shoe could not be made of glass. But Sister Sue said 
that if they covered one of the doll’s own slippers with very shiny 
silver paper it would look almost as pretty. They found that she 
was right and they were well pleased. 

One more tableau yet remained to be thought of, “ For,” said 
Elsie, “ this will make five, which is just one cent apiece for each ! ” 
After much discussion Night and Morning was decided upon, with 
Elfrida and Eleanora in the respective parts. Elfrida, representing 
Night, was dressed in dark green gauze which fell all about her 
where she knelt. Over her black hair, and partly over her face, 
was a veil of the same material studded with tiny shining stars 
cut neatly out of gilt paper. 

Eleanora, who was to be Morning, stood beside her, all in white, 
with a wreath of pink rosebuds from her summer hat, and with her 
fair hair falling loose, “ Looking,” said Constance, “ like curling 
sunbeams.” 

There was not so much action in this tableau but it was the pret¬ 
tiest of all. 

When the great day came, the library table was moved into a 
small adjoining room, so, in place of a curtain which would have been 
difficult to manage, the door could be shut to give Elsie and Con¬ 
stance the chance to arrange things without being seen. The audience 
of six little girls was a most enthusiastic one : and just as much of a 
success was Mrs. Farrell’s birthday party the next day. The dolls 
attended it in costume, and Janet Martin, too, was invited and 
brought Cinderella. And old Mrs. Farrell said that not even the 
President could have had a nicer party! That was praise enough 
for the little girls. 

These stories might serve for real tableaux. There are no better 
subjects than those to be found in the old books that have been read 
and reread so many times. It is best to choose such stories because 
every one in your audience will know them at once and not be 
puzzled over the meaning. 

The story of “ Alice in Wonderland ” would furnish wonderful 
tableaux. Much of the continued story could be told. There is al¬ 
ways Mother Goose to draw from and the characters are easily 
dressed. In arranging tableaux look at the pictures in your books 
and they will show you how to dress the figures. 


MOTIVES IN MUSIC 


223 


Have You Ears and Eyes to Find Motives 
in Music ? 


Music is sometimes made of little bits of melody called motives. 
Carl Reinecke, a noted German composer, has made the following 
Good Night piece out of two such little motives that say, in German, 
“ Gut ’ Nacht ,” that is Good Night (a) and “ Auf Wiedersehen,” that 
is, “ We’ll Meet Again ” (b). 



Good nicjht u/etlmeet otcjairtcjood ni^ht cjood nKjht* 


Carl Reinecke was the children’s friend. Listen to the music and 
see if you can tell me when it is saying, “ Good Night,” and when it 
is saying, “ We’ll Meet Again.” Listen again and see if you can tell 
how many times “ Good Night ” is said, and how many times “ We’ll 
Meet Again.” In order that you may show that you understand 
when it appears, take a piece of tracing paper, put it over the music 
and make a copy of the melody. On the copy you make, first draw 
a line over the notes that say “ Good Night,” and mark it G. N., 
then over the notes that say “ We’ll Meet Again,” and mark it W. M. 
If you find it too difficult to make the copy and mark it, get some 
one to make the copy and you mark the motives. 

Like painting music is a way to express thought and feeling. 
Shut your eyes and listen when you hear poetry, and find what it 
says to your hearts; melody that feels like the poetry will come to 
you. 

When it comes, sing it to some one who can write it down. If 
you can find it on the piano or violin and sing it with your fingers, 
so much the better. When you are sure of the melody, write it 
down, or get somebody to write it down for you. 























224 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 










































































































































MOTIVES IN MUSIC 


225 




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226 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Battle Hymn of the Republic 

Here is a poem that every patriotic boy and girl should love. 

It will suggest martial music and a devotional spirit. 

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord ; 

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath 
are stored. 

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift 
sword ; 

His truth is marching on. 

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling 
camps ; 

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and 
damps ; 

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring 
lamps; 

His days are marching on. 

I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel ; 

“ As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace 
shall deal ”; 

Let the Hero born of woman crush the serpent with his 
heel, 

Since God is marching on. 

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call re¬ 
treat ; 

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment 
seat; 

0, be swift, my soul, to answer Him ! be jubilant, my feet! 

Our God is marching on. 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, 

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; 

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men 
free, 

While God is marching on. 

Julia Ward Howe. 


FEEDING THE BIRDS 


227 


Feeding the Birds 

In feeding the winter birds, see that it is done regularly in all 
weathers. The food should always be in the best condition and 
suitable for the birds for whom it is intended. If you can secure 
the berries of mountain ash and elder, do so. They are greatly rel¬ 
ished by the birds. Never feed anything that will easily sour or de¬ 
cay, or the birds may be harmed. Provide a box containing old 
mortar, salt and fine poultry grit, and place it where the birds can 
easily find it. Give the winter birds water, free from ice. Do not 
allow English sparrows to drive other birds away from the water. 
These valuable hints have been gathered from personal experiences 
of bird lovers all over the United States. 

Curd is much relished. Hemp is one of the best seeds for seed¬ 
eating birds. Japanese millet is also good. Broken nuts of all 
kinds, sunflower seed, squash seed and cracked corn will attract nut¬ 
hatches, chickadees and blue jays. Blemished or wilted oranges cut 
in half, or specked apples, are greedily eaten. Most birds prefer oats 
to wheat. Sheaves of wheat, oats, or barley securely fastened to a 
pole and put out on the lawn become a feeding place de luxe. Com¬ 
mon table salt is much relished by many birds. Old mortar and fine 
poultry grit are enjoyed by crossbills and other birds, evidently as a 
means to help digest their food. Bread or cake crumbs, broken bis¬ 
cuits, ground oats and wheat, canary seed, boiled rice, celery tops 
and chopped meat will all be eaten by the various birds. Mountain- 
ash berries are fine to use during the spring migration ; also butter¬ 
nuts, scraps of meat, pumpkin and apple seeds. 

Humming birds, the daintiest of our feathered friends, are at¬ 
tracted by lilacs and the trumpet-flower, but as these are not always 
available, try hanging up tiny medicine vials filled with honey or 
sweetened water. 

Trim your porches in the fall with evergreen branches. The 
green attracts the birds. Place feed boxes among the branches and 
also suspend them from the ceiling. Fasten suet and fat meat where 
the birds can get it. 

Cocoanut shells cut in half and suspended by wires make safe 
and good feeding places. 

For birds that will eat only on the ground, keep a space clear 


228 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


from snow directly under your window, from which food can be 
dropped without disturbing the birds. Very shy birds, like the 
grouse, will come and feed on corn or buckwheat scattered on a bar¬ 
rel or box under an evergreen. 

Birds attract birds. Gradually draw them close to the house by 
scattering broken nuts on the trees and ground. 


March Chickens 

If you want chickens that will commence to lay eggs in 
November, you must have them out of their shells by the end of 
March. 

The house that the hen and her chickens will live in until the 
weather becomes warm should be large enough for you to get into. 
It should be perfectly water-tight, well ventilated, warm, and must 
always be kept clean. The nest can be made from a box measuring 
about 14 by 16 inches on the bottom, and about 14 inches high. On 
the open end of this box nail a strip 4 inches wide. Fill the bot¬ 
tom of the nest with hay, straw, or excelsior up to the edge of this 
base board. The sitting hen should be brought to this nest after 
dark, for she will be more apt to settle down more quietly than if 
moved during the day. Give her whole corn, wheat, or oats while 
she is sitting on the eggs. 

While any good sitting hen will do to hatch the eggs, the eggs 
themselves must be the best; that is, they must be laid by good, 
strong, healthy hens. About twelve or thirteen is the best number 
of eggs for a March setting. 

Nineteen or twenty days after the eggs are first placed under the 
hen, the shells should begin to show signs of a chick pecking its 
way out. By the twenty-first day all chicks should be out of their 
shells. Do not feed the chicks at all during the first twenty-four 
hours. They are still living upon the yolk of the egg that they 
came from. On the second day give them a meal of hard boiled 
eggs chopped up fine (shell and all), with a little bread crumbs 
mixed in. Give them this food the next two or three days. 

For the first one or two weeks the little chicks will need to be 


MARCH CHICKENS 


229 


fed very often. Some chick growers say that the chicks should have 
both dry grains and soft mash the first few weeks, and others use 
only the dry grains. The greatest danger of soft mash is that it be¬ 
comes sour if left uneaten too long, and this is very harmful to the 
baby chicks. If you use soft mash, you had better buy it ready 
mixed, although a good home-made mixture can be made of wheat 
bran, corn-meal, bread crumbs, and skimmed milk. Put it into a 
shallow trough three times a day, and always be sure to remove all 
uneaten food before you add a fresh supply. Corn, wheat, and mil¬ 
let seed are the best dry grains. These should be ground or cracked 
fine, and fed every two hours. Keep some fine chopped hay or chaff 
upon the floor and scatter the grain among this, so the chicks can 
learn to scratch. 

Until the chicks can get outdoors to search food, they should be 
given occasionally some lettuce leaves, onion tops, or green grass. 
Chicks need grit to help grind their food. Until they can get out, 
finely chopped egg shells will do. 

In taking care of young chickens water is another essential thing. 
The best way to keep a continual supply before them, without the 
danger of their getting wet, is to fill a glass jar to the brim with 
water, put a shallow pan over the top and invert it. The water will 
run out only as fast as it is used. This should be changed every 
day and the pan cleaned. Many of the barn folk appreciate just 
simple cleanliness and thrive better for it. 

To be healthy, your chicks need plenty of exercise. Make a cov¬ 
ered yard for the mother and her chicks to exercise in on warm, dry 
days. When warmer weather comes and the chicks are larger, a 
small coop and yard can be made outside, and the whole thing 
lifted up and changed about from week to week to fresh feeding 
grounds. 

Try to learn the chicken language—if you can ! It has been esti¬ 
mated that chickens and their parents have twenty-three different 
notes. The mother hen clucks when she leads the chicks out to feed 
so they will keep with her, and the chicks peep to let her know 
where they are. What a pathetic peep it is when a chick gets lost, 
and what a contented little peep it is when he finds his way back 
again and comfortably cuddles down in safety under his mother's 
wing for the night! 


230 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


A Man Who Loved Animals 

An Englishman who loved animals the right way was Edwin 
Landseer. Landseer was born in London more than a hundred 
years ago. When he was so tiny a boy that he could not climb a 
fence, his father used to lift him over into a field where there were 
sheep (giving him a lunch, let us hope !) and leave him there all day 
to draw them. Some of those animal drawings, done when Edwin 
was five years old, are kept to-day in the South Kensington Museum, 
London. 

By the time that he was eleven, he had won a prize offered by 
an art society for drawings of animals, and at thirteen one of his 
pictures was exhibited at the Royal Academy of London. It was a 
picture of a mule, marked “ By Master E. Landseer—H ” (The “ H ” 
meant Honorary ; that is, “ This boy is not a member of our academy, 
but we hung his picture because it is good ”). 

The next year Edwin, a curly-headed boy with good manners, 
entered the art school of the Royal Academy as a pupil. Everybody 
liked him. When Edwin was absent the head of the school would 
ask, “ Where is my little dog boy ? ” 

Although some years later the great Landseer in his manhood in¬ 
troduced stags and roes for the first time in the history of art the 
little “ dog boy ” came to be known as “ the dog man.” He painted 
saucy dogs and proud dogs, sad dogs and happy dogs, dogs full of 
mischief, and dogs faithful unto death. He painted Sir Walter 
Scott’s dogs. He painted Queen Victoria’s dogs. From the time he 
was sixteen until he was over seventy years of age he loved dogs and 
painted them, and people, even royalty itself, came to love his dogs 
and their painter. Queen Victoria and her husband, the Prince 
Consort, studied art with him. 

He never married. But when he was a young man he bought a 
house of his own and there lived, with one or the other of his sisters 
as housekeeper, for almost fifty years, visited by everybody and in¬ 
vited everywhere. Always well paid, he received, when seventy 
years old, as high as $30,000 for a single picture. This reward for 
industry and talent is an encouragement to others. 

In 1850 the Queen “ knighted ” him—gave him a title. After 
that he was called Sir Edwin Landseer. 


GOODIES OF MANY KINDS 


231 


Goodies for Lunch that a Child Can Make 


Peanut Butter Sandwiches 

Cut the crust from the end of a loaf of bread, spread the end of 
the loaf nicely with peanut butter, then with a sharp knife cut a thin 
slice, taking care to do it evenly. Cut another slice the same thick¬ 
ness, place it on the first piece with the peanut butter between. Cut 
this in two and you will have two sandwiches good enough for any¬ 
body. Make enough so that there will be plenty for all your little 
guests. 

Cheesed Uneedas 

Of course you all know what Uneedas are, but do you know what 
cheesed Uneedas are? Suppose you make some for your dinner 
party. Find the pan that mother makes cookies in and put in it as 
many Uneeda biscuits as you think you will need. Put on each a 
thin slice of mild cheese and put them in the oven for a few minutes 
to brown. Serve hot. 

Raw Apple Sauce 

This will go well with the sandwiches and Uneedas and is very 
easy to make. For a party you want to be sure your apple sauce is 
good and if you make it this way you won’t have to watch it for fear 
it will burn. Pick out three or four of the largest, juiciest apples you 
can find, pare and slice them into very small pieces. Squeeze a few 
drops of lemon juice on them so they will not turn dark colored, and 
sprinkle the whole quite generously with sugar. 

Instant Cocoa 

You will want something to drink at the party and if you make 
Instant Cocoa your little friends can help you make it right at the 
table. The most important thing is to be sure that the water in the 
teakettle is boiling, then you can proceed as follows: Give each 
guest a mug and a teaspoon. Put a teaspoonful of cocoa, two tea¬ 
spoonfuls of sugar and a pinch of salt into each mug. Tell each 
guest to mix this thoroughly. Then fill the mugs two-thirds full 
of boiling water. Pass a pitcher of milk and let each one fill his 
mug from that. It is then all ready to drink. 



232 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Frozen Peaches and Marguerites 

Almost every one likes to eat frozen desserts. Here is a way for 
boys and girls to make a small quantity easily and without much 
expense. 


Articles Required 
i 

A baking-powder tin (pound size) or 

A small covered tin pail, or 

A wide mouthed glass jar. 

n 

A large vessel to hold I and the ice and 
salt. A deep sauce pan, bowl or pail 
will answer. 

in 

A measuring cup, a knife, a tablespoon 
and wire strainer; a bowl and an egg 
beater, for whipping the cream. 


Materials Required 
(For four people) 

1 cup of ripe peaches peeled and cut 
into small pieces. 
y 2 cup of water. 
y 2 cup of sugar. 

y 2 cup of thick cream for whipping. 


Ice chopped fine. 

Coarse salt (ordinary salt may be used). 
Waxed paper. 


Directions for Making 


The peaches may be left in small pieces 
or pressed through a strainer to make 
a pulp. 

1. Mix the peaches, sugar and water 
and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 

2. Pour into vessel No. 1 and put on 
the cover. 

3. Place this vessel in the larger one 
and pack around it a mixture of ice 
and salt. Use one measure of salt to 
three measures of ice. 

Be sure that the ice and salt mixture 
is higher on the outside of the can 
than the fruit is on the inside. 

4. Turn the small can around and 
around until upon opening the can 
the fruit is found to be freezing on 
the sides of the can. 


5. Scrape this coating off with the 
knife and beat it into the rest of the 
mixture. 

6. Continue turning the can and scrap¬ 
ing off the frozen coating until the 
whole is a soft mush. Then fold in 
the cream which has been beaten 
until it is thick. 

7. Now pack it all smoothly in the 
can using the spoon ; place the piece 
of waxed paper over the top and put 
on the cover. Be sure that this fits 
very tightly. 

8. Pour off the water from the ice and 
salt and pack more ice and salt on 
and around the can. Let stand 
twenty minutes or half an hour before 
serving. 


A spoonful of whipped cream may be served on top of the frozen 
peaches as a garnish. 

Everything in desserts that is set away to cool or to wait serving 
should be covered from dust. 



GOODIES OF MANY KINDS 


233 


Marguerites 

Everybody will like these if you do not burn them. Serve with 
the Frozen Peaches. 


Articles Required 

2 dozen saltine wafers. 4 tablespoonfuls of fine sugar. 

1 egg white. % cup of chopped nuts. 

Directions for Making 

1. Beat the egg white until stiff. 3. Fold in the chopped nuts. 

2. Add the sugar gradually. 4. Spread on the saltines. 

5. Brown slightly in a moderate oven. 

Birthday Cake 

4 tablespoonfuls butter 2 eggs 

1 cup sugar *4 cup milk 

J /i teaspoonful salt x / 2 teaspoonful vanilla 
1/4 cups flour 

Put the butter in a mixing bowl and work it with a wooden spoon 
Until it is creamy. Add the sugar, beating until it is well mixed. 
Separate the eggs and beat the yolks till light colored or thick, then 
add the milk to them. Sift the flour, baking-powder and salt to¬ 
gether, and add the eggs and milk, then the flour, to the butter and 
sugar. Stir in the vanilla and beat well. Beat the egg whites very 
stiff and add them carefully to the cake batter, not stirring them any 
more than you can help. 

Have two layer cake pans greased and floured and put half the 
batter in each. Bake in a moderate oven about twenty minutes or 
until when you put a clean toothpick in to try it, the cake does not 
stick. 

Take the pans out of the oven carefully and let the cake cool a 
little before removing from the pans. Put one layer on the plate on 
which you wish to serve it and spread it with jelly. Then place the 
other on top and spread with icing. 

Plain Icing 

Put 2 tablespoonfuls of boiling water in a bowl. Add I teaspoon¬ 
ful vanilla and enough confectioner’s sugar to make the mixture 
stiff enough to spread. Spread over the cake with a knife dipped in 
cold water. 


234 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Now for the birthday part. Get six white and seven red candles 
(one for each of the thirteen original States. Can you say their 
names?) and place a red candle in the middle and the other twelve 
at equal distances round the cake. If possible, get a piece of red, 
white, or blue crepe paper to pin round the cake, or use any other 
decorative idea that you like. 


Helping Mother With Lunches for Sunday Night 


It is easier to help in the house when outdoors isn’t very attract- 
ive but don’t forget that there is nearly as much to be done in the 
kitchen on the pleasant days in spring when perhaps your mother 
would like to be away from the house as well as yourself. Do you 
ever think of that ? 

I am going to tell you how you can easily prepare Sunday night 
supper or luncheon on Saturday so that Sunday will be a real rest 
day as far as cooking is concerned. All that you will have to do 
on Sunday is to set the table and serve the supper and so let your 
mother have a vacation. 

You will want to plan your Saturday cooking when it is possible 
to use the oven, for three of the dishes must be baked and on Satur¬ 
day the oven is in demand. 

Individual Veal Loaves 

Two pounds of lean uncooked veal cutlet. 

Cut off the skin and put the meat through the meat chopper 
with 2 slices of fat, salt pork. Add 4 crackers rolled fine, 3 table¬ 
spoons of melted butter, 1 small egg beaten, 1 teaspoon onion juice; 
mix well and season with salt and pepper. Pack in small gem pans 
and bake slowly for about an hour. When cool, they may be 
removed from the pans. This amount will make a dozen small 
loaves. 

The next recipe is for a bread but it may also be used as plain 
cake to serve with stewed fruit. 



HELPING MOTHER WITH LUNCHES 235 

Date and Nut Bread 

3 cups sifted whole wheat flour ; 4 teaspooufuls bakiug-powder; 1 cup sugar; 
1 teaspoonful salt; % cup chopped dates and nuts mixed together j 1 egg beaten; 
\y 2 cups milk. 

Mix and sift first four ingredients. Add egg and milk, then the 
nuts and dates. Beat well and bake in a greased and floured pan 
for about an hour in a moderate oven. This bread will be easier 
to cut the next day after baking. 

To eat with the veal loaf you may make a potato salad. When 
the potatoes are cooked for dinner on Saturday save a half dozen 
boiled or baked. When cold cut in small cubes and add 1 table¬ 
spoon of onions chopped fine, and 1 of parsley. Cover and set in a 
cool place until ready to use. Then mix with dressing and place on 
a platter or dish on lettuce leaves. Small radishes or sliced pickles 
make an attractive garnish. 

Boiled Dressing 

Yz tablespoouful of salt; 1 teaspoonful of mustard ; 1 tablespoonful of sugar ; 
a few grains of red pepper ; 1 tablespoonful of flour ; yolks of 2 eggs slightly 
beaten ; 2 tablespoonfuls of melted butter ; Y cup of milk ; % cup vinegar. 

Mix and sift dry ingredients. Add eggs slowly, butter, milk, 
and vinegar very slowly. Cook over boiling water until it thickens, 
strain and cool. This will make h pint of dressing which will keep 
in a cold place for several days. 

For a dessert to eat with the date and nut bread you may pre¬ 
pare rhubarb or other sauces in season. 

Baked Rhubarb 

Peel and cut rhubarb in one inch pieces. Put in layers in an 
earthenware pudding dish or casserole, sprinkling each layer with 
a generous amount of sugar. Add a very little water. Bake in a 
slow oven until soft. Cool and serve. 

Spiced Apple Sauce 

This may be made of small apples or from those not firm enough 
to bake. Wash, pare and core them. Cut into eighths, and place 
in a granite sauce pan. To a quart of apples add l cup of water 
and eight cloves. Cook gently until soft. Press through a colander. 
Add sugar to taste, and serve at any meal. 


236 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Things Father Would Like for Breakfast 
After the fuss and frolic of Christmas vacation, January comes, 
the New Year begins, school opens again and there are lots of things 
to do all the time. Among the other good resolutions which we all 
make at New Year’s, will you say to yourself “ I’ll surely help get 
breakfast for mother once this month ” ? Let us plan a simple 
breakfast: Cereal with fruit—Cocoa—Milk Toast. 

Most people, at least in winter, eat some kind of cereal and fruit 
for one dish at breakfast and if you learn how to cook one kind of 
cereal well it will be easy to cook all kinds. We may divide cereals 
into two classes : coarse cereals, like oatmeal, and fine cereals, like 
cream of wheat. They require the same thorough cooking to be 
easily digested but a different amount of water, the fine cereal ab¬ 
sorbing more water than the coarse. 

The Way to Cook a Cereal 

Measure the water and put it in the top part of a double 
boiler. To one quart of water add one teaspoon of salt. When 
the water is boiling briskly add the cereal, allowing, you re¬ 
member, two cups if coarse or one scant cup if fine, to the quart 
of water. 

Method: Measure the cereal, and for coarse cereals (oatmeal) 
use twice as much water as cereal. For fine cereals use four or 
five times as much water. It is easier to add water if the cereal 
is too thick after cooking than to start with too much water at 
first. 

Add the cereal very slowly so that the water will not stop bub¬ 
bling. Be very careful to stir the fine cereal all the time while you 
pour it into the water so that it will not lump. 

Let the cereal boil hard without a cover directly over the fire for 
five minutes or until it begins to thicken a little, then place it over 
the lower part of the double boiler which you have filled one-third 
full of boiling water. Cover and set back on the stove where it will 
cook slowly for at least an hour and do not let the water in the 
lower part boil away until the boiler is dry. 

These directions are for the partly cooked cereals that come in 
packages. Always cook them twice as long as the directions tell you 
so that the cereal will be thoroughly cooked. Cooked cereals are 


THE WAY TO COOK A CEREAL 


237 


much cheaper than the ready-to-serve breakfast foods and oatmeal is 
the cheapest and most nutritious of all. 

These are the Ways to Serve Cereals 

(1) Serve cereals very hot with top milk’or cream, and try it 
with just a little sugar,—better none at all. 

(2) Slice bananas and serve in the sauce dish with a helping of 
oatmeal. 

(3) To a quart of cooked cream of wheat add three-quarters 
of a cup of dates, washed, stoned, and cut in pieces. Add these ten 
or fifteen minutes before the cereal is done and see if the family don’t 
like the combination. 

(4) In the summer the cream of wheat and dates may be cooked 
the day before, poured into small cups and set in a cold place over 
night. Unmold in the morning and serve for breakfast with cream, 
or at luncheon for a simple dessert. 

How to Make Milk Toast 

You will need to allow two pieces of toast for each person and for 
six persons one quart of milk, two tablespoons of butter and two of 
flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper. 

Put the butter in the top part of the double boiler and set it 
directly over the fire ; when it melts add the flour, stirring until it 
froths and bubbles. Add the milk slowly, stirring all the time. Add 
salt and pepper. Then place over the lower part of the double boiler 
(like the oatmeal) and let it stand on the stove, stirring occasionally 
as it scalds and thickens. 

While the milk is heating toast the bread a golden brown (use 
slightly stale bread), being careful not to burn it. When the cereal 
is eaten, put the hot toast into a deep vegetable dish, pour the milk 
over it and serve before it becomes soggy. The toast should soften 
gradually in the hot milk, so do not pour the milk over it until 
just before you serve it. If you are so fortunate as to live in the 
country where you can get cream, the toast will be much better 
made with one cup of cream and three cups of milk. Just heat 
this in the double boiler, adding salt and pepper and omitting the 
butter and flour and you will have a delicious dish for either break¬ 
fast or supper. 


238 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Cake for Your May Basket 


Lace Cakes 

1 egg, h cup sugar, 2 teaspoonfuls melted butter, I teaspoonful 
salt, i teaspoonful vanilla, 1 cup rolled oats, or I cup rolled oats 
and the other I may be chopped nuts, or chopped dates, or cocoa- 
nut. 

Beat the egg, and add the other ingredients. Drop from a 
teaspoon in tiny cakes on a buttered pan, one inch apart. Spread 
out thin and bake until a delicate brown. When done the cakes 
should be about as big as a half dollar. 

How to Wash Dishes 

I hope you are careful when you cook to wash the dishes after¬ 
ward and to leave everything in apple-pie order, so that your work 
is really a help to Mother. I am going to give you some dish-wash¬ 
ing suggestions. 

Wash the cleanest things first, especially if hot water is scarce. 
Wash well, rinse clean, and wipe dry. 

You will see that the apple juice has blackened the knife, and 
it will need to be scoured. Scrape off a little bath-brick on the 
board with the knife, wet the cork, and dip it on the powder. Hold 
the knife firmly with the left hand and rub with the cork until all 
the black stains have disappeared. Then wash and rinse the knife 
again. Wipe it dry, taking care not to let it stay in the dish-pan 
under the water, or the blade will become loose from the wooden 
handle. It is really fine to see the stains disappear and knives ought 
to be scoured whenever there is a stain on them for, after a while, 
stains will wear away the steel. 

The baking dish may need some gold dust or Sapolio if the apple 
burned to the bottom of the dish. Then a brush or a dish-cloth is 
good to use to rub off the burned food. Sew a metal button to the 
corner of your dish-cloth; it will help you with sticky places or to 
scrape away places that have burned. 



SOMETHING FOR PARTIES 


239 


Goodies for an Orange Party 

March is the month just betwixt and between winter and spring 
and we are beginning to wish for spring flowers and summer fruits 
to come back again and perhaps are tired of winter things to eat. I 
am going to tell you what you can do with one winter fruit—a very 
common one in most households. 

We will take four oranges, as large and juicy as you can get, and 
the other materials which you will need are granulated and powdered 
sugar, gelatine, some lemons, an egg yolk and saltine crackers. 

The first recipe is 

Orange Jelly 

box powdered gelatine soaked in y 2 cup of cold water for fifteen minutes. 
iy cups boiling water, 1 cup sugar, 1 y 2 cups orange juice (about 4 oranges), 3 
tablespoonfuls lemon juice. 

Cut the oranges in half crosswise, take out the pulp and juice 
with a spoon and strain through double cheese-cloth. Be careful 
to keep the empty orange halves to use as molds for the jelly, rinsing 
them out with cold water. Add the soaked gelatine to the boiling 
water, stir until dissolved, strain and add the sugar and fruit juice. 
Set the orange halves in a pan where they will stand upright and 
pour in the hot jelly carefully until each half is filled. Place in a 
cool place to set, and serve for dessert in the molds. Whipped cream 
makes an attractive garnish. 

A pretty way to serve a mold of jelly to a sick person is to put 
the two halves together tying them with narrow orange ribbon, this 
to be untied by the invalid like a surprise package. 

The next recipe is for Orange Biscuits to serve with the jelly. 
When you are extracting the juice from the oranges, before cutting 
one orange in half, grate off all the rind, then cut and squeeze the 
orange as you would a lemon (of course you cannot use this orange 
for a jelly mold). 

Orange Biscuit 

Grated rind of 1 orange, 1 teaspoonful lemon juice, 2 teaspoonfuls orange juice. 

Let these stand together for fifteen minutes, then strain and add 
gradually to the yolk of an egg slightly beaten. Stir in confectioner's 
sugar until the mixture is thick enough to spread like frosting. 
Spread on saltines and when dry serve with the jelly. 


240 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Now for a recipe to use up the empty orange halves after the 
jelly has been eaten. Do not throw them away but rinse in cold 
water and cut each half in half again. Cover with cold water, bring 
to the boiling point and cook slowly until tender. Then drain and 
with a spoon scrape off the inner white portion which is bitter and 
cut the yellow part in thin, even strips, using a pair of scissors. Boil 
h cup of water and 1 cup of sugar together until the syrup will form 
a thread when dropped from the tip of the spoon. Put the orange 
strips in the syrup and cook for five minutes, then drain and roll the 
strips on fine granulated sugar. You will have an attractive dish of 
candied orange peel to serve for dessert or afternoon tea. 

One more recipe for using all of the orange. This can be com¬ 
menced Thursday afternoon and finished on Saturday morning when 
you have no school. You will need for 

Orange Marmalade 

3 oranges, 2 lemons, cups granulated sugar. 

Slice the oranges and lemons crosswise with a sharp knife as 
thinly as possible, removing seeds. Put the fruit in a granite sauce¬ 
pan, adding 5 cups of water. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 
thirty-six hours. Then boil for two hours until the peel of the fruit 
is tender. Add the sugar and boil about an hour longer, stirring 
occasionally to prevent its sticking to the saucepan. When it 
thickens slightly on a cold saucer it is done. 

Put into very clean glasses and over the top pour melted paraffin 
to keep the marmalade air tight. This makes delicious sandwiches. 

Using the best rule that you can find for orangeade and some of 
the golden cake recipes you can arrange to have an “ Orange Party ” 
some time in March. Ten cents’ worth of orange crepe or tissue 
paper will be enough to decorate the table, and with all the orange 
dishes see if it doesn’t look bright on a dull March day I 

An Easter Luncheon 

In the month when Easter comes we begin to feel that winter 
is nearly over and spring breezes, birds and flowers are almost here 
again after a long, long time of waiting. 

Don’t you think that an Easter luncheon would be a pleasant 
thing to plan? Easter suggests eggs and the main dish of the 
luncheon will be one made from eggs. 


GOOD MENUS 


241 


When you set the table try to have a bowl of yellow flowers, 
tulips or daffodils, or even two or three in a tall “ bud ” vase if you 
cannot get more. Place these in the center and use any yellow or 
gold-edged dishes you may have to carry out a color scheme of 
yellow. 

Menu for Luncheon for Four People 

Eggs Goldenrod Tea Corn Muffins 

Pineapple Salad 

The first thing to do is to prepare the eggs which must cook 
about thirty minutes. 

Hard Cooked Eggs. Put 4 eggs in a saucepan and cover with 
boiling water. Let them stand tightly covered on the back of the 
stove for thirty minutes, then put them where they will boil for two 
minutes so the shell may be easily removed. Pour off the water 
and cover the eggs with cold water. 

While the eggs are on the stove make the muffins so that when 
they are baking you can prepare the salad and finish the egg dish. 

Sift flour, sugar, baking-powder and salt 
together. Beat eggs until very light, add it 
with the milk to the dry mixture. Add the 
butter, mix and beat well; bake in well greased 
muffin pans about twenty-five minutes. 

When the muffins are in the oven, open a 
can of sliced pineapple, drain the slices, saving 
the juice to use another time. Place two crisp lettuce leaves on each 
plate and upon them a slice of pineapple. Just before serving put 
a spoonful of cream dressing on each slice. 

Cream Dressing 

Beat thick cream, sweet or sour, with an egg beater until stiff, 
season with salt, pepper and lemon-juice or vinegar. Continue the 
beating while gradually adding the acid. Use i cup cream (before 
it is beaten) and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Salt and pepper 
to taste. 

After the salad is ready and in a cold place, finish the eggs and 
put some water in the teakettle for the tea. 


Corn Muffins 
1 cup white flour. 

Yz oup yellow corn-meal. 

3 teaspoonfuls baking-powder. 
1 teaspoonful salt. 

X cup sugar. 

1 egg. 

1 cup milk. 

1 tablespoonful melted butter. 


242 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Eggs Goldenrod 

Make a thin white sauce by melting the butter over the fire. 
Stir in the flour and when smooth add the milk gradually. Let it 
come to a boil, stirring as it thickens. Add the 
seasonings. Remove the shells from the eggs and 
separate the yolks from the whites. Chop the 
whites and add them to the sauce. Cut the slices 
of toast in half lengthwise, arrange on a hot platter 
and pour over the sauce. Press the yolks through 
a potato ricer or strainer, sprinkling them over the top. Garnish 
with parsley and serve very hot. 

When this is ready the muffins ought to be baked. 

Make the tea according to this recipe : 


4 hard cooked eggs. 

1 tablespoonful butter. 
1 tablespoonful flour. 
y 2 teaspoonful salt. 

teaspoonful pepper. 
4 slices toast. 

Parsley. 


How to Make Tea 


Three teaspoonfuls tea; 2 cups boiling water. 

Scald an earthenware or china teapot. Put in the tea and pour 
over it the boiling water. Let stand on the back of the stove where 
it cannot boil for five minutes. Strain and serve immediately. 

Serving the Meal 

A meal may be simply and easily served at the table. The fa¬ 
ther, or host, usually carves and serves the meat and one vegetable; 
the mother or hostess, the second vegetable and the tea or coffee. 

The tumblers should be filled just before the family sits down. 

If the serving dishes are passed around the table have them 
handed from one person to the next and not across the table. It is 
much better to remove the serving dishes and plates before dessert is 
served. Dishes from which food is served should be passed to the 
left, and low enough to allow the person to help himself easily. 
Dishes in which food is already served should be placed at the right. 
Soiled dishes are removed from the right side. As soon as empty, 
dishes should be removed. 

Remove platter, vegetable and other serving dishes first, then 
soiled china, glass and silver; then clean china, glass and silver and 
lastly crumbs. Do not pile dishes up; take away only a few at a 
time. 

Serve the hostess first, then the guests and lastly the family. 



ICE-CREAM FOR YOUR PARTY 


243 


Ice-Cream for a Party of Four 

You will need: 

A bowl or a deep tin pan. 

A clean tin measuring cup without a handle or a clean empty 
baking-powder can. 

A spoon, and a teacup. 

Put your coat and rubbers on and bring in a dish-pan full of 
snow. Set the cup or can in the middle of the deep pan and pack 
around it a layer of snow, then a thinner layer of rock salt (the best 
kind of salt to use for freezing). Do this until the salt and snow 
come up nearly to the top of the cup. 

Now take 2 teaspoonfuls of cocoa and 3 teaspoonfuls of sugar 
and a tiny pinch of salt. Stir these together in the teacup with a 
little boiling water (about 2 tablespoons) until the mixture is 
smooth. 

Put this in the tin and then fill it half full with rich milk or 
with half milk and half cream, and add 3 drops of vanilla. 

Stir the cream in the tin and as it freezes scrape it away from 
the sides. Turn the tin around once in a while. Very soon it will 
begin to look like ice-cream. Keep on stirring until it is too stiff to 
stir easily, and then pack it down in the tin and let it stand a few 
minutes. 

Take the tin out of the freezer, wrap a warm cloth around the 
outside a half-minute, and then you can turn it out in a saucer, 
ready for the party. 

This is enough for two little people ; but I think you will like it 
so much that you will want to make another cupful right away. 

If you like fruit ice-cream better, leave out the cocoa and use 
£ cup of fruit juice instead, with the same amount of sugar and no 
vanilla. 

Besides making ice-cream for a party you can surprise the sick 
child in your house who is not too sick to eat ice-cream. 

If you like chocolate, follow this recipe : 

1 cup of sugar 1 square of chocolate 

£ cup of Karo corn syrup £ cup of water. 

Cook until it hardens in cold water and pour it over two quarts 
of popcorn just popped, stirring well. 


244 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Good Things for Christmas 


People always like candy and if we don’t eat too much it’s a good 
food. Packed in an attractive box or basket it’s just the present for 
the one to whom you cannot decide what to give. 

For what you pay for the materials of home-made candy you can 
only buy a very cheap quality of store candy, so besides giving you 
some recipes for candy I will calculate the cost of each one that you 
may know how much money it will take for the materials, and that 
is always desirable. 

Here is a recipe for a candy that is easy to make and hard to 
spoil. 


Butter Taffy 

2 cups brown sugar $ .07 

A tiny pinch of salt 
yi cup of water 

2 teaspoonfuls of butter .03 

% oup of nut meats broken in small 

pieces .10 

or % cup cocoanufc 


.05 


$ .20 $ .15 


Stir the sugar, salt and water 
in a saucepan over the fire until 
it begins to boil, then add the 
butter and cook until it forms a 
soft ball in cold water, about ten 
minutes. Stir in the nuts or 
cocoanut and take from the fire. Beat with a spoon until it begins to 
thicken then pour quickly into a buttered pan to the depth of three- 
quarters of an inch. Mark into squares as soon as a knife will cut 
it without sticking. Another way to do is to butter ten or twelve 
little cup cake pans and pour the candy into these. If it sticks to 
the pans when hard, rap them sharply on the table and the little 
candy cakes will fall out. Wrap a half dozen of these in paraffin 
paper, tie with red ribbon or gilt cord, stick a tiny holly twig in the 
bow and there is one Christmas gift all ready. 

Put the sugar, salt and milk in a saucepan 
over the fire and stir until it begins to boil. 
When at most to the soft ball stage, add the 
peanut butter and stir until it is well mixed. 
Take from the fire and beat until creamy. 
It hardens quickly so pour it into the buttered pan as rapidly as 
possible. Cut into squares like butter taffy, or you may use the 
little cup cake pans and make individual cakes. 

The following recipe for pulled candy is a good one but it should 
pot be tried on a damp day as it will be too sticky. 


Peanut Butter Fudge 
2 cups granulated sugar $ .06 

]/ 2 cup milk .01 

1 pinch of salt 

4 teaspooufuls peanut butter .04 

$TTl 



GOOD THINGS FOR CHRISTMAS 


245 


Polled candy I5oil all together without stirring 

3 oups sugar $ . 07)4 for 20 minutes or until when it’s tried 

H teas poo uful l'ernon juice or viuegar in Cold water il is brittle. Pour OUt 

4 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar .00 % oil a Well buttered platter to COOl. 

® 08 As soon as it can be handled, pull, 
using the tips of very clean fingers. As it becomes white, add four 
drops of oil of peppermint. (This is very strong, so be careful in 
measuring it.) Divide in two portions and to one add two or three 
drops of red coloring (cochineal). Continue pulling and when it is 
evenly colored lay it with the uncolored portion and pull and twist 
them both together so that you have a pink and white striped mass 
of candy. When it becomes too brittle to pull, roll into sticks the 
thickness of a piece of chalk, cut in 6 or 8 inch lengths and bend 
one end for the handle of the cane. Or you may coil a long strip 
round and round, building it up like an Indian basket and ending 
with a twist for a handle. Perhaps your canes and baskets won’t be 
as well made as those you buy but they’ll taste ever so good. Christ¬ 
mas dinner is such a feast that you would think that no one could 
eat any supper, but toward evening perhaps the people have forgot¬ 
ten the big dinner and remember that they are a little bit hungry. 
See if your mother won’t let you prepare some cocoa and sandwiches 
and you can have some of your candy for dessert (really the best way 
to eat candy). 

The table need not be set as for a regular meal. If you have a 
large tray, place the cups and saucers on it, enough spoons and 
plates, a pile of paper napkins, a sugar bowl, a basket or plate for 
the sandwiches and leave some room for the cocoa pitcher. 


Christmas Sandwiches 

Chop enough cold boiled ham and turkey to make a cupful of 
each. Cream a half cup of butter by stirring it until you can mix 
it easily with the meat. Season with salt and pepper and spread on 
thin slices of bread. If there is any left-over celery or a few salted 
nuts chop them very fine and add i cup to the meat mixture. A 
lettuce leaf can be put between each slice of bread. Pile the sand¬ 
wiches in the basket or on the plate, cover with a damp napkin un¬ 
til the cocoa is ready, then uncover, put a sprig of holly on top and 
place on the tray. 


246 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Place the cocoa, sugar and salt in a saucepan and add i cup boil¬ 
ing water, stirring until it is smooth; let it boil for five minutes. 

Cocoa (for 8 people) Heat 4 cups of milk in the double boiler or if you 
4 cups milk. haven’t a double boiler use a saucepan resting in 

% cup sugar! another one that is half full of boiling water. When 

i tiny pmck of salt. ^he begins to steam and scum rises to the top 

it is at the scalding point, then add the cocoa mixture. Beat with a 
Dover egg-beater until frothy; this will prevent the scum from form¬ 
ing. Pour into the cocoa pitcher, which has been heated by filling 
it with hot water, and serve very hot. This simple supper will be a 
pleasant finish to a merry day. 

How to Make Lemonade 

One lemon and three tablespoonfuls of sugar will be needed for 
each two glasses of lemonade you wish to make. Wash the lemons 
until you are sure they are clean, then cut each lemon into halves 
and squeeze the juice out with a lemon squeezer. Cut a few slices 
off of one piece to put into the lemonade; it will add to the flavor. 
Mix the lemon juice and sugar thoroughly and add cold water, and 
ice if you have it. 

If you like you can put in a few cherries, or raspberries, or add 
sliced bananas and make a punch instead of plain lemonade. You 
can use any fruit in season. 

If you have a cold and don’t like to take ginger tea, you can 
make hot lemonade by using hot water instead of cold. Be sure to 
drink it as hot as you can stand it and then, as soon as you possibly 
can, jump into bed. 

A Kind of Candy That Has to be Cooked 

Butter-Scotch . Put two cupfuls of sugar (granulated), two table¬ 
spoonfuls of water and a piece of butter the size of an egg into a 
porcelain kettle, place it on the stove and let it boil. Don’t stir it. 
Drop a little of it into cold water once in a while and when it 
hardens in the water take the candy off the stove and pour it into a 
buttered tin. Before it gets real hard cut it into squares with a 
knife. Don’t try to talk to your friends while you are eating butter¬ 
scotch I 


SOMETHING FOR HALLOWE’EN 


247 


Taffy Apples for Hallowe’en 

No matter how many of these you make you will never get 
enough. Begin with two apiece for each guest. 

First make the Taffy : 

Use 2 cups of sugar ; 1 cup of molasses or corn syrup ; I teaspoon 
of cream of tartar; 2 tablespoons water. Boil all of these materials 
together until a small portion of the mixture dropped into cold 
water becomes brittle. 

Then Taffy the Apples: 

Wash and dry the apples and stick a skewer into the stem end of 
each. While the taffy is still hot dip the apples into it one at a time 
until they are all covered with a thin coating of the taffy. As each 
is dipped place it on a buttered platter to cool. Use a deep saucepan 
so that the apples may be easily and quickly covered with the taffy. 

A Salad that is Always Good—Made of Pears and Almonds 
But first you must learn how to make Dates Stuffed with Cheese : 

Wash the dates very thoroughly and wipe dry. Make a cut the 
whole length of one side of the date and take out the stone but do 
not spoil the shape of the date. With the point of the knife fill in 
the cavity with soft cream or Neufchatel cheese. This must be done 
very neatly so that the cheese is not spread over the sides of the date. 

Then you must learn how to make French Dressing : 

This is the simplest salad dressing, but others may be used as well. 

Materials 

% teaspoon pepper (or x / 2 teaspoon of paprika). 

1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. 

y 2 teaspoon salt. 

3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil. 

If you want to surprise the family with some green candy for 
Saint Patrick’s Day, try this recipe : 

Peppermint Drops 

Recipe : 

V/ 2 cups of sugar. 

y 2 cup of hot water. 

6 drops of oil of peppermint. 

Green coloring enough to make a pretty green. 


248 SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 

Method: Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir until 
the sugar is dissolved. Boil ten minutes, add the peppermint, being 
careful not to add too much, for the oil is very strong. Stir until it 
begins to thicken a little, add the color quickly, stir and drop from 
the tip of a spoon on paraffin paper or on a slightly buttered plate. 

School Lunches 

Have your mother teach you how to prepare your own school 
lunch. Give her your help and in that way you will learn. There 
is no reason why boys should not help in this way. 

A lunch is really a meal and should be made up of something 
hearty, something juicy, something sweet, and something for a sur¬ 
prise. The “ something hearty ” may consist of sandwiches, eggs, 
cold meat, a tiny jar of salad, etc. The “ something juicy ” is some 
kind of fruit, any in season. The “ something sweet,” but not too 
much of it, may be cake, cookies, cornstarch mold, a cup-custard, a 
tiny baked pudding, etc. (Notice that I didn’t include pie. Don’t 
take it in your lunch box.) The “ something for a surprise ” may 
take the form of salted peanuts, a few nuts and raisins, a square of 
chocolate, two or three pieces of candy, a bit of cheese, a few olives 
or pickles, three or four stuffed dates, a few pieces of crystallized 
ginger, etc. 

Let us think about the sandwiches first. If they are of meat it is 
daintier and better every way to put the meat through the meat 
grinder, then to season it with salt and pepper, adding a little cream 
or melted butter to make it moist enough to spread. You may add 
chopped pickles or olives, tomato catsup or a tiny taste of mustard 
to make the sandwich more appetizing. Cold baked beans between 
brown bread, cheese, cold fish if perfectly fresh, sliced tomatoes, or 
cucumbers, make delicious sandwiches; the latter must not stand 
too long or they will lose their crispness. Have the bread stale 
enough to cut easily, a day old is usually just right, cream the 
butter until soft enough to spread easily and do not spread it very 
thick. All kinds of bread may be used. Two or three sweet sand¬ 
wiches add to the attractiveness of a lunch. Jelly or jam that is 
firm enough to spread on bread without oozing out, marmalade, 
prunes and nuts, dates and nuts or figs, put through the meat 
chopper and moistened with a little cream if too dry, grated maple 


AT THANKSGIVING TIME 


249 


sugar, or honey, can all be used, but don't let the sweets overbalance 
the substantials. 

Never leave out the fruit; an orange, a pear, two or three peaches, 
an apple, a bunch of grapes, or three or four plums can be tucked in 
one corner and will be a most refreshing ending to the lunch. If a 
banana is carried, pack it as far from the sandwiches as possible or 
the bread will taste of bananas. A baked apple or apple sauce may 
be carried in a cup if tightly covered. 

Now for the sweets; There is a long list of cookies (which are 
much easier to pack than cake) ginger, sugar, chocolate, oatmeal, 
or spice cookies, and little cup cakes. If these are frosted be sure 
that the frosting is hard before they are packed. When mother 
makes a rice pudding for dinner, ask her to bake a tiny one for you 
in a popover cup and see if it doesn’t taste good the next day at 
school. You can even carry a mold of gelatine jelly if you are 
careful. 

Here are a week’s lunches planned so that the lunch for each 
day is different and they are all so simple that you can prepare them 
yourself. 


Monday 


Tuesday 


2 chopped beef or pickle sandwiches 
2 maple sugar sandwiches 
2 hunches of grapes 
1 cup cake 
1 square of cheese 


2 stuffed eggs 

2 bread and butter sandwiches 
2 jam sandwiches 
2 peaches 

2 ginger cookies 

3 olives 


Wednesday 


Thursday 


2 cream cheese and ham sandwiches 
2 date and nut sandwiches 
1 pear 

1 mold of lemon jelly 

2 pickles 


2 chopped ham sandwiches 


2 ginger sandwiches 
1 apple 

3 oatmeal cookies 
3 pieces of fudge 


Friday 

2 peanut butter sandwiches 
2 tomato sandwiches 
1 orange 

1 cup of rice pudding 
4 dates stuffed with cream cheese 


At Thanksgiving Time 


In November, all over the country, people are getting ready for 
Thanksgiving. In the olden days this was the time for family 



250 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


parties when every one went home for Thanksgiving and the farm¬ 
houses were full of brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins, 
all meeting together for a jolly time and all prepared to do their 
share in the work as well as the play of Thanksgiving. 

The girls gathered the apples and nuts and almost everything 
to eat came from the farm itself. 

Now this Thanksgiving, even if you don’t live on a farm or if 
you haven’t worked during the summer with the Thanksgiving 
dinner in view, there are lots of chances for you to do your share 
and I am going to tell you some of the things you can do to help 
mother get ready for Thanksgiving. 

Cranberry Jelly 

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without cranberries to 
eat with the turkey. Here is a recipe for cranberry jelly which is 
easy to make and always comes out well. 

Recipe: 4 cups of cranberries; 2 cups of sugar; 1 cup boiling 
water. 

Pick over the cranberries carefully and rinse them in cold water. 
Then put them in a saucepan and add the boiling water. Boil for 
twenty minutes and then rub through a strainer. Put them back 
in the saucepan and add the two cups of sugar. Cook after it begins 
to boil again, for five minutes, and pour into small molds, which 
have been rinsed with cold water. If you can, have a tiny mold for 
each person and stand them on a platter, leaving a place in the center 
for fringed celery. Or, you may fit a small bowl into a large one 
and pour the jelly gently into this mold. When it is cold you will 
have a ring of jelly and inside the ring may be placed the stalks of 
celery. 


Fringed Celery 

Wash and scrape the celery leaving the tender green leaves on 
each stalk. Cut the stalks in four inch pieces, then with a pair of 
scissors fringe one end of each piece, snipping it up about an inch and 
a half. Drop these into very cold water and let them stand an hour 
or two until the fringe curls. They look very pretty served with 
the cranberry jelly. 


MAKING CANDY 


251 


Three Kinds of Candy That Need no Cooking 

(1) Creamed Walnuts. First of all be sure your hands are very 
clean, because you will have to handle the candy more or less. You 
will need the white of an egg, about a pound of confectioner's sugar 
and a tablespoonful of cream (if you haven’t any cream, water will 
do). Put the white of the egg and the tablespoonful of cream or 
water into a bowl and beat it until it begins to bubble, then beat in 
confectioner’s sugar, a little at a time, being sure there are no lumps 
in it. Put in a teaspoonful of vanilla. When it is about as thick as 
putty, take a small teaspoonful and mold it into a tiny flat “ biscuit.” 
Get little brother to crack some English walnuts for you and put half 
of a walnut meat on top of your little “ biscuit.” If you live in the 
country and cannot get English walnuts, hickorynuts will be just 
as good. This will make about twenty-five candies. 

(2) Cocoanut Candy. Make this with the white of an egg, con¬ 
fectioner’s sugar, cream, and cocoanut. Make it exactly as you 
did the creamed walnuts only leave out the vanilla and roll 
your little “ biscuits ” in shredded cocoanut. Don’t put any wal¬ 
nuts on them. 

(3) Peppermints. Make these exactly as you did the “ biscuits ” 
for the creamed walnuts only instead of vanilla put in one drop of 
oil of peppermint. Don’t make these candies so fat as you made 
the others. You ought to make about thirty-five peppermints out 
of the white of one egg. 

Candy Berries for the Christmas Tree 

Last year I suppose you decorated your Christmas tree with 
chains of popcorn and cranberries. Wouldn’t you like to try 
something different this year? After you have made the three 
kinds of candy that need no cooking, it will be very easy for you 
to make candy berries which you can string and use for trimming 
your tree. These are made as follows : 

Stir into the white of an egg enough confectioner’s sugar to make 
a paste of the consistency of soft putty, and color a brilliant red with 
any vegetable paste that is approved by mother. Moisten the hand 
with olive oil and knead the paste until it is free from streaks. 
This amount should make about one hundred berries, if made no 


252 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


larger than the average cranberry. To knead and mold the berries 
into small balls, moisten the palm of one hand with the oil and 
work the mass with the first and second fingers of the other. Pierce 
the molds through the center with pins and place upon pasteboard 
covers to dry. They may be strung on strong linen. 

Wash the dates and wipe dry. Make a cut the whole length of 
one side of the date and take out the stone. Fill the cavity with a 
little of the candy that you made for your creamed walnuts. Fill 
some of the dates with a half of a walnut. If you like, you can 
shell some peanuts and stuff the dates with those. 


Surprises 

Every one likes to celebrate April Fool’s Day by playing harm¬ 
less jokes and almost every one is good-natured about the jokes. 
Try this joke on a good-natured person and see if he or she doesn’t 
take it in the right way. 


April Fool Candy 

The white of one egg. 

1 tablespoon of cream or water. 

About 1 pound of confectioner 1 s sugar. 

Beat the egg and cream or water until it is well mixed, then stir 
in the sugar slowly (if it is lumpy, sift or roll it) until it is stiff 
enough to handle. Add vanilla enough to flavor,—about i tea¬ 
spoonful. 

Make little balls of absorbent cotton and cover them with the 
candy mixture. Set aside to harden slightly, then dip in melted 
chocolate until covered. Place on paraffin paper to dry. Make 
some real chocolate drops too so as to have more fun. To melt 
the chocolate: put several squares in a small saucepan and place 
over boiling water until melted. Be careful not to spill any water 
in the chocolate or it will not be smooth. 

Or you may stuff dates with little rolls of the cotton. Dampen 
it slightly and roll the dates in granulated sugar until thickly 
covered. 

If you do not care to make the April Fool candies, ask your 
mother if you may make an Easter surprise for the family. Save 


EASTER DISHES 


253 


as many egg shells as there are people and if possible have them 
from eggs that have been broken very near the end. You will need 
to use egg cups that are made with the small and large openings to 
hold the eggs. Stand the egg cup on its large end and fill the small 
end half full of water. Make a tiny little bouquet, two pansies, or 
three or four violets with a green leaf or two and place it in the 
water. With a brush, put paste or glue around the edge of the egg 
shell, then place it over the flowers, letting it rest inside the cup so 
that it looks like a soft boiled egg all ready to serve for breakfast. 
You may make these the night before, for the water will keep the 
bouquet fresh. Set one before each plate at the table. To open, 
give a quick tap to the top with a knife and the end will crack 
off and the little bouquet underneath will be there to wish people 
a happy Easter. 

An Easter Salad 

You will need some cream cheese or cottage cheese for this dish. 
Break it up with a fork and mix in enough cream to make it just 
right to mold. Add salt to taste, and divide it into small portions. 
With very clean hands shape into eggs about as large as a robin’s egg. 
Sprinkle with paprika to imitate the speckles on a bird’s egg. Place 
four or five eggs in a nest of crisp watercress or lettuce and pour over 
them a tablespoon of French dressing, the recipe for which is given. 
So many good things need a French dressing it is well to have a 
recipe. 


French Dressing s 

l teaspoon of pepper, or £ teaspoon of paprika. 

£ teaspoon of salt. 

1 tablespoon of vinegar, or lemon juice. 

3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil. 

Put all the materials in a bowl and beat with a Dover egg-beater 
until thick and well mixed. Serve very cold. 

At Easter time every one will like to eat eggs in some form. 
Here is a good recipe that your mother will like to help you 
make. 

You may wish to take an Easter walk into the country and will 
want to carry a lunch. 


254 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Stuffed Eggs 

Allow two eggs to each person. Put the eggs in a saucepan and 
cover with boiling water. Let them stand tightly covered on the 
back of the stove for thirty minutes. Then bring them forward 
where they will boil for one minute so that the shell may be easily 
removed. Pour off the water and cover the eggs with cold water. 
Remove the shell and cut the egg in half crosswise. Take out the 
yolks carefully and mash with a silver spoon, adding salt, pepper, 
cream or melted butter, and just enough vinegar to suit your taste. 
Mold the mixture into small balls and put these back into the 
whites. Place two halves together and wrap each egg up in a 
square of paraffin paper. 

Bread and butter sandwiches will go well with the lunch. 
Allow four sandwiches to each person. Use bread that is at least 
a day old, so that it will cut well. Put some butter in a bowl 
and work it with a silver or wooden spoon until it is soft enough 
to spread on the bread. Cut the end slice off the loaf and spread 
the cut surface with butter. Then cut a thin slice off with a 
sharp knife. Spread the next slice in the same way, cut and 
press two together. When you have three or four sandwiches 
done, cut them in two and place in paraffin paper. 

Now to pack the lunch. See that your box is clean. Pack 
the sandwiches at one end and the cake and fruit at the other, 
all wrapped in paper. Slip the “surprise” well wrapped up in 
the middle. Cover the whole with a piece of paper and place 
a paper cup and paper napkin on top. If your box is pasteboard, 
wrap it neatly in strong paper, tie with a string or band. 

Cranberry Marmalade 

Recipe: 6 cups of cranberries ; 6 cups of sugar ; 2 oranges (wash, 
but do not peel them) ; 1 lb. raisins seeded. 

Put the oranges and raisins through the meat grinder or else chop 
them fine. Wash and pick over the cranberries, put them in a sauce¬ 
pan and pour in water until you can just see it above the berries. 
Cook until tender, then add the sugar, oranges and raisins. Let it 
cook slowly until it thickens on a cold saucer, stirring occasionally 
so that it will not burn. Pour into hot, clean, jelly glasses and cover 
with hot paraffin unless it is to be used in a few days. 




TEMPTING THINGS FOR TEA 


255 


Tempting Things for Tea 


This time I want to tell you how to make something tempting 
for lunch or supper out of a few very simple materials, and these 
materials are almost always at hand in the kitchen pantry. They 
are dry bread, butter, sugar, eggs, and molasses. 

No matter how much bread the family eats there are sure to be 
slices left over which become dry and stale or else mold so that they 
have to be thrown away. Here is one way to use them. 

Molasses Slices 

Spread stale slices of bread lightly with butter, cut each slice in 
four squares and spread a layer on the bottom of a pudding dish. 
Add k cup of water to I cup of molasses and pour enough of this 
over the bread until moistened. Place another layer of buttered 
bread in the dish, cover with molasses and repeat until the dish is 
filled, having the last layer molasses. Bake in a moderate oven until 
the molasses has “ candied.” Serve hot. It will taste very much 
like molasses candy. A teaspoon or two of lemon juice added to the 
molasses will prevent the pudding from being too sweet. Karo 
syrup or maple syrup could be used instead of molasses. 

French Toast 

For this dish you may use bread even more stale. Cut the 
bread in slices about half an inch thick. Beat one egg or two yolks 
and when thick add one cup of milk, i teaspoonful of salt. Place 
this in a shallow dish and dip the bread in it until the slices are 
well moistened. Then lay them on a platter or pan while you get 
the frying pan ready. 

Put enough butter or lard in a frying pan so that when melted 
it will cover the bottom. When it is very hot, lay the bread in 
carefully and let it brown on one side, then with a broad knife turn 
it over and cook until it is brown on the other side. Use just enough 
butter to keep the toast from sticking to the pan. 

Pile on a platter and keep hot until ready to eat. Serve with this 
sugar to which a little cinnamon has been added or beat up a glass 
of currant jelly with a fork until soft enough to spread on the toast. 



256 


SOMETHING TO DO, GIRLS 


Odds and Ends 

Stale biscuits or muffins may be cut in half, buttered, placed 
on a pan and put in the oven to brown. You can eat these plain 
or spread them with jam or scraped maple sugar. 

How to Set a Table 

Here are some simple things to do in setting the table so that you 
cannot only prepare a dish for lunch or supper but get the table 
ready before you commence to cook. First, put on a “silence cloth ” 
made of some heavy material to protect the table. Then put on the 
table-cloth, having the center fold lengthwise of the table. Have no 
wrinkles and be sure the sides are even. It is better to have a white 
enamelled cloth which may be thoroughly washed than to have a 
soiled table-cloth. Breakfast and luncheon or supper may be served 
on the bare table with doilies under plates, glasses, and serving 
dishes. If possible, have a plant, flowers, or fruit for the center of 
the table. Plates are usually not put on until the food is served, but 
if they are, have them right side up, an equal distance apart and 
one inch from the edge of the table. 

Place knife at right of the table sharp edge toward plate; fork 
at left, tines up, spoon or spoons at right of knife, bowl up. 

Napkins neatly folded or in a ring beside the fork. Place glass 
at tip of knife. Bread and butter plates at tip of fork. If there are 
two or more knives, forks, or spoons, arrange them beside the others 
of the same kind, the smaller ones outside; or if the same size, in 
the order in which they are to be used. 

Be sure that all required serving spoons, knives or forks are on 
the table, or on the dishes as they are served. Also see that the 
serving plates or saucers are on the table for each course. 

Cups and saucers should be arranged at the left of the hostess. 
If only a few, they may be arranged with each cup in its saucer, 
handle at the right. With several, it is necessary to stack them. 
The sugar bowl and creamer may be in front of the hostess at the 
right. Coffee or tea pot should be at the right of the hostess. 

Salt and pepper shakers should be arranged at opposite corners 
of the table or between every two people. Be sure that all “ con¬ 
stants ” are on ; bread and butter, milk, water, sugar, salt, pepper 
and condiments, oil and vinegar as needed. 























































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